Star Wars ReWrite: The Next Generation
by Slade1987
Summary: After surviving his battle with Anakin, Obi-Wan is faced with an even greater challenge. Saving the life of Padme and protecting her and the children from Lord Vader and Emperor Palpatine.
1. Prologue

"Are she and the children alright?" Obi-Wan asked as the medical droid floated up to the trio.

"The children are healthy. We don't understand why but for some reason, we are losing the mother."

Obi-Wan looked to Senator Organa and Master Yoda who nodded gravely.

"Dying of a broken heart she is." the ancient Jedi murmured sadly.

Obi-Wan quietly cursed Anakin. It seemed he wasn't content to slaughter the Jedi, but he was going to be the death of his own wife as well.

* * *

><p>Obi-Wan held up Padme's children for her to see, feeling mildly uncomfortable holding the two squirming infants.<p>

Padme reached out weakly, brushing her son's head lovingly. "Luke." she murmured. Her eyes turned to her daughter as she touched her as well. "Leia."

Obi-Wan handed the children to the nanny droid who took them in its four arms and cradled the babes far more tenderly than Obi-Wan had managed.

He knelt by her side as she looked at him desperately. "Obi-Wan...there is still...good in him...I know there is."

His eyes narrowed and he took her hands in his. "Padme, don't die and leave the children in my care." she gazed at him weakly, her expression pained though she didn't say anything. "You are stronger than this." he continued, hating himself for the harshness in his tone. "If you leave the children in my care, they will never know the love you had for them, and they will certainly never know of the love you had for their father. I will never tell them the truth."

Padme's eyes widened ever so slightly in alarm. The embers of the fire that had once blazed behind them just visible in her gaze. Still, she was weakening and Obi-Wan was unsure what else he could do to provoke her to live. Then something miraculous happened. First Leia, then Luke began to cry and wail pitiably. Despite all the soothing that the nanny droid attempted nothing would silence their cries. Padme's eyes blazed furiously and she struggled to a sitting position with Obi-Wan's help.

She reached her arms out for her children. "My babies." she whispered, her voice regaining some of the strength it had once born.

The nanny droid handed first Leia then Luke to her and Padme cradled them both in her arms, her voice a soft whisper as she cooed to them, and their cries quieted to little hiccups as they squirmed in her arms.

She looked at him, the fire in her eyes restored. "Obi-Wan, help me."

He blinked, confused as to her meaning.

"I can't feed them like this." she prompted.

Obi-Wan's face flushed as he took her meaning, he began to gesture but Padme's eyes widened in terror and she clutched the two children to her closely as if he might attack them. Obi-Wan stopped immediately, realizing just what it was that he'd reminded her of.

"I'm sorry." he said simply, still fighting with his blushing face as he helped her off with her top in a more conventional manner.

The infants began suckling and Padme looked down at them lovingly, her eyes no longer for Obi-Wan in the least. For his part, Obi-Wan stood back with a great sigh of relief. It seemed that whatever damage Anakin had done, was reparable.

* * *

><p>"Is she stable?" Senator Organa asked worriedly as Obi-Wan left the operation room.<p>

Obi-Wan nodded. "Yes. She's fine." he didn't mention Padme's reaction to his attempt to use the Force, there was no need to bring that up.

"What do we do now?" the Senator asked worriedly. "If Anakin realizes she's still alive—"

"Hide them we must." Master Yoda said simply. He looked to Obi-Wan. "Your task this is."

Obi-Wan and the Senator exchanged glances before the latter spoke in respectful terms.

"With due respect Master Yoda, I think my household would be a more suitable place. I can easily take in three additional mouths and keep them safe."

Master Yoda shook his head. "No. Need a Jedi teacher the children will."

"Both you and Master Kenobi are welcome on Alderaan." Senator Organa replied. "We would keep you safe."

"Pacifism will not keep Palpatine away from the children, and he will discover they're there." Obi-Wan said, cutting off the Senator's half formed protest. "Alderaan is too exposed, too close to the galactic core, and too outspoken to be safe for Padme and the children."

The Senator bristled but kept his calm as he replied dubiously. "Do you have a better idea Master Kenobi?"

"Tatooine."

Senator Organa's eyes widened. "That sand ridden cesspit? It's controlled by the Hutts and beyond Republic law!"

"Exactly." Obi-Wan replied. "It is also Anakin's homeworld and somewhere he never wants to return to. We'll be safe enough there."

The Senator turned to Master Yoda. "Do you agree with this Master Yoda?"

The aged Jedi Master suddenly looked much older and far more tired than Obi-Wan ever remembered him as he nodded gravely.

"A good plan it is. The children with Master Kenobi to Tatooine will go."

Senator Organa scowled but nodded. "This is a Jedi matter, I will respect that. What will you do Master Yoda?"

"Into seclusion I will go. Until right the time is for a return of the Jedi."

Obi-Wan looked at Yoda with concern. "Where will you go?"

"Dagobah." Yoda said simply. "Before then, something more to teach you there is. An old friend, wishes to speak with you he does."

* * *

><p>Obi-Wan looked over at Padme in the seat besides him as he piloted the star skiff over the Dune Sea and towards the Jundland Wastes where the farmstead he'd purchased with Padme's funds. There had been some contention over how money should be handled but it was eventually done in such a way to avoid attention. Obi-Wan and Padme now had access to all the funding their new lives would require and then some. The trick would be not to make it so obvious that they had such wealth, especially if they wanted to avoid attention. There had also the obvious fact that they'd needed a body. For that, they had left Padme entirely in the dark until after the decision had been made. One of her handmaidens had volunteered her life, pretending to be Padme at the funeral. Obi-Wan still wasn't certain if Padme had forgiven him—or ever would—for that.<p>

The galaxy now thought that Senator Padme Amidala was buried on Naboo and except for a handful of individuals, no one knew that she was in fact in hiding with her two children on Tatooine. The trick would be in maintaining that deception. Even this ship was a bit much but Senator Organa's people had given it a once over and it was no longer the sleek Naboo skiff it had once been. Now it appeared to be a decades old clunker, rusting and barely held together by a down on his luck spacer looking to settle down with his new family.

That was the image that Obi-Wan wanted to cast anyways. A war weary spacer just looking for peace and quiet in the seclusion of the wastes of Tatooine.

Padme looked back at him, the children sleeping in her arms. "Do you think we'll be safe here?"

Obi-Wan nodded. "I think so. No one knows who we are."

"The Lars know who I am." Padme said. "We will need to tell them."

Obi-Wan winced. He didn't like that idea. The less people knew, the better. However Padme was right. Anakin's step-family would need to know. Otherwise the risk was that they'd find out of their own accord and undo everything.

"Alright. We'll contact them once we're settled."

Padme nodded. "Thank you." a coy smile came to her features. "Ben."

Obi-Wan blinked. That was the first genuine smile he'd seen on Padme's face since all of this had begun. It was a good sign. A sign that she really could recover from all this. 'Ben' was Obi-Wan's new name. Leda was Padme's. Ben and Leda Jinn. The old friend that Master Yoda had wanted Obi-Wan to speak with had been the ghost—or whatever he had been—of Qui-Gon Jinn. Obi-Wan's former master, now long dead but somehow still among them as a spirit. It had been Qui-Gon who had suggested the name change, and Obi-Wan who had asked if they might take his master's name. That had seemed to please Qui-Gon. There had been more of course, but that was for another time, when Obi-Wan had to begin training the children. Until then, Qui-Gon's words could wait.

"There it is." he said as the small moisture farm came into view.

Padme leaned forwards and looked at the small collection of buildings. "It's certainly different."

"I'm sorry Padme." Obi-Wan said differently.

"Leda." she corrected. "And no, it's fine. We'll make it work, and if I remember anything about this planet, it's that everyone builds underground." she looked back at the farmstead. "It's larger than it looks."

Obi-Wan nodded as he spun the skiff gently into a landing position, avoiding the jagged rock outcroppings just barely. He wondered if they'd need to sell the ship, but he didn't like the idea of cutting off a potential escape route should they be found out. It was a decision for another day. For now, they needed to settle in.

* * *

><p>"That is the last of the luggage Mistress Leda." C-3PO said respectfully as he placed the latest articles from the ship amongst the rest of the things they'd brought with them. "If you'll not be needing me for the moment I'll power down now."<p>

"Thank you Threepio." Padme said. "That will be all."

R2-D2 warbled something in a short blat and Threepio turned on the little droid.

"I am not lazy you worthless rust-bucket. I merely would like to rest!"

As the two continued going at it, Obi-Wan couldn't help but smile. They'd had to rewrite the overly talkative droid so that he would not give away their secret accidentally. Obi-Wan hadn't liked the idea of keeping him in the first place but Padme had insisted. So with a little help, Obi-Wan had created an elaborate story of the various adventures that Threepio and Artoo had shared before coming into the Jinn household some years ago. The stories ranged from the boring to the absurd, but they did one thing very consistently. Made sure that Threepio would never reveal the truth. Obi-Wan knew the droid meant well, but that he was also a very polite protocol droid and there were some things you couldn't change without major reprogramming. Something else Padme had been against.

After Threepio had shut himself off, Padme turned to Obi-Wan with a fretful expression.

"Ben, what do we tell the children about Anakin?"

Obi-Wan did his best to smile at her as he replied. He'd given this some thought on the flight to Tatooine and had finally decided upon a story that explained everything that needed to be explained. From a certain point of view. It was all a matter of perspective.

"Anakin was an officer in the Republic during the Clone Wars. Just a regular officer. He died near the end of the war, leaving you to raise the children. I was Anakin's close friend and I married you and adopted the children as my own."

Padme took in a deep breath and Obi-Wan could feel her unease but she nodded.

"Will they ever know the truth?"

Obi-Wan nodded. "Eventually, as they grow older. I will need to tell them more of what happened."

"You're going to train them. Aren't you." Padme said, holding the children closer to her protectively.

Obi-Wan opened his mouth to reply but then stopped himself, considering Padme's feelings for a moment before starting anew.

"Yes. I have to if they're going to be anywhere near as strong as Anakin is." he looked down at the two slumbering infants. "If they aren't overly sensitive to the Force then no, I will let them live as regular children should."

He honestly hoped that they were as strong as Anakin was. Much as it might hurt Padme, the hope and future of the Jedi rested in these two babes. Their growth into Jedi would be the kindling that would relight the fire of the Jedi Order. Perhaps one day both would lead the resurgence of the Order against Palpatine. And against their father.

"I don't want them to be Jedi Ben." Padme said simply.

"Pad—Leda, there isn't an option. If they are sensitive and I don't train them then they may turn into—" he stopped himself from calling them 'another Anakin' but the thought was there and Padme's expression told Obi-Wan all he needed to know. She knew his thoughts and shared them.

"Will you promise me to be a good father for them before you are a Jedi Master?" Padme asked after a long moment of silence had passed between them.

Obi-Wan nodded immediately though the prospect of being a father scared him more than being a Jedi Master had ever done. Padme looked at him for a long moment before she stood and crossed the luggage crowded living space and sat besides him on the old and worn couch. She handed little Luke to him and he cradled the boy in his arms carefully, as if the babe might break. Luke for his part squirmed and rolled over in Obi-Wan's grip, nuzzling against his tunic. Obi-Wan's breathing was anything but calm, he'd never held a life in his hands so literally. He looked up from the infant to find Padme watching him intently.

She leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes. "I think you'll be a good father Ben."

Obi-Wan didn't say anything, looking down at Luke, and then to Leia who was sleeping soundly in her mother's arms. He looked at Padme but then stopped as he realized she too had fallen asleep. He took a deep steadying breath before leaning his head back and closing his own eyes. They all needed their rest. As he brought about a Jedi trance he had the strangest thought. Perhaps being a father would be enough.


	2. Chapter 1

"I don't like this." Owen said dubiously.

Obi-Wan sipped the drink they were sharing as he watched Padme and Beru fuss with the twins.

"None of us do." he replied quietly. "But this is what we've been forced to deal with."

Owen nodded. "So Anakin is dead?"

"As near to it that it no longer matters."

Owen nodded soberly. "You don't know?"

Obi-Wan's eyes narrowed. "Whatever was left of Anakin was dead when I left him."

Now it was Owen's turn to look surprised. "You killed him?"

Obi-Wan said nothing and at his silence Owen put his head in his hands. "Stars, I told him nothing good would come of being a Jedi. You were his friend and you killed him." he shook his head, sitting back. "He couldn't even save Shimi." he tapped the table as he looked at the two children, and then at Beru. "I guess Beru could use the company. She's wanted kids for a while now." he turned his gaze back to Obi-Wan, waving a finger at him. "You have to promise that nothing will come to endanger our lives here."

"I can't make that promise." Obi-Wan said. "If the Empire realizes they're here nothing but trouble will follow. I will do everything I can to protect Leda and the children...and you."

"I don't need your help." Owen said dubiously.

Obi-Wan nodded. "That's fine. I will not interfere in your life anymore than is necessary but the twins would benefit from a family."

Owen managed to smile for a change. "Yes, I imagine they would, and this place can do with some laughter too. You're out in the Jundland Wastes you said?"

"Yes, there's an old farmstead there we're taking over."

"The mighty Jedi is going to be a farmer?" Owen remarked with humor.

Obi-Wan shrugged. "We all do what we must."

"I'll drink to that." Owen said, raising his glass.

"Ben." Padme called. "If you're done over there, Beru and I are going to make dinner if you'll handle the twins."

Owen smiled at Obi-Wan. "Well Ben, time to play father."

Obi-Wan said nothing as he stood up and walked over to accost Luke and Leia from the smiling clutches of their aunt.

* * *

><p>"I think that went well." Padme said as she laid the twins to sleep in the crib they shared. "We should go there more often, it certainly took a lot out of them."<p>

"Dinner wasn't bad either." Obi-Wan said as he looked down at the two fretfully sleeping children.

Padme closed her eyes and looked away.

Obi-Wan frowned. "Are you alright?"

She nodded. "You know I wanted to do all this with Anakin. After the war...I wanted to return to Naboo and just raise our children with him." she turned to Obi-Wan, leaning against him. It took Obi-Wan a moment but he put his arms around her. He felt moisture on his thin tunic and realized she was crying. "That will never happen now." she sobbed. "He's gone, even if he's still alive, he's gone."

It hit Obi-Wan then, Padme was only now coming to realize how complete Anakin's change was. How lost he was to her and to all of them. He kissed the top of her head and she tensed. Looking up at him.

"That must have been pretty awkward." she said with a faint smile, wiping the tears from her eyes.

He nodded. "I must say it's different."

"Caring?"

Obi-Wan nodded again. "I've spent my life keeping my emotions in check and now...after the war and now this." he shook his head. "I think I understand why Anakin was so..."

"Hurt." Padme finished for him. "Believe me Obi-Wan, I understand. Anakin was so lost and confused especially towards...the end." she reached up and touched his cheek. "We'll get through this together. I wish we had another way but this is what fate, the Force, or whatever it is has given us." Padme smiled then, surprising Obi-Wan with the genuineness of the gesture. "For what it's worth, I think Anakin would be happy to know that you were raising his children."

Obi-Wan winced, wondering what his friend—his brother nearly—would think about it if he ever found out. Given how twisted Anakin had become, Obi-Wan doubted that the newly made Lord of the Sith would be overly pleased at all.

"Excuse me Master Ben." C-3PO's voice called from the door to the bedroom. "I don't mean to interrupt but I was able to finish programming the vaporators. They'll begin collecting water right away and the irrigation systems will feed the hydroponics and our storage tanks."

Obi-Wan turned to look at the golden droid with a forced smile. He really did seem to have impeccable timing. "Thank yo Threepio."

"Oh you're most welcome sir I—" a rude blatting sound came from behind the droid as he jerked forwards. "Yes Artoo I know you helped." the astromech twittered again and Threepio reacted indignantly. "No I wasn't trying to hoard all the glory for myself you bucket of bolts. I was merely being informative!"

Padme shook her head and put her arms around Obi-Wan. "You see why I wanted him to come with us?"

Obi-Wan sighed. "For the humor?"

* * *

><p>Obi-Wan stood very still, his eyes closed. He could hear the quiet swishing sound of the target remote as it drifted around him. He could feel the droid's presence in the Force as it drifted lazily through the air. He waited patiently for the intent to change, then it happened. His saber snapped to life. The remote fired a flurry of bolts. Obi-Wan deflected one, two, and three. The fourth one nearly made it through but he swatted it away and back at the remote. It struck the droid dead center and the droid's attack program deactivated. Obi-Wan opened his eyes and turned to look at the rising suns as they began to crest over the mountains to the north.<p>

He felt Padme's eyes on him and turned again to look at her as she watched him from the entrance to their home. She was wearing a simple tunic, much like the one she'd worn when she'd pretended to be her own handmaiden all those years ago.

"You know I hate the sound of that thing." she said quietly.

"The remote?"

She shook her head. "No, the saber. It reminds me of Anakin."

Obi-Wan nodded. "I'm sorry."

"No. I'm sorry. I need to be stronger. The children are Force sensitive, aren't they?"

"It's too early to tell." Obi-Wan said evasively.

"You know as well as I do that they're going to be if they're not already. Anakin was supposed to bring balance remember? He's obviously not the one going to do it. So it will be my children."

Obi-Wan honestly hadn't thought of that but it made sense. He looked at Padme. "I am sorry."

She shook her head. "It's just another thing I can't control. Like when Arelia took my place at the funeral."

Obi-Wan didn't say anything as Padme looked at him. Her expression wasn't accusing nor was there resentment. She simply was stating the truth of the matter.

He sighed heavily. "I promise I won't make that sort of decision without you again."

She smiled at him. "Obi-Wan..._Ben, _please don't lie to me. I know you'll do whatever you have to in order to protect me and the children. I just hate feeling so powerless against all that is happening in the galaxy. We don't even know what the Empire is doing."

"Hopefully it won't be something we'll have to worry about for a long time."

Padme shook her head. "Don't start taking up optimism now Ben. The Empire isn't going to rest until it has expanded throughout the galaxy. They'll come here eventually. Then we'll be all too aware of what they're doing."


	3. Chapter 2

Obi-Wan walked into the living room sighing heavily. Padme looked up from the couch as the twins played with their toys on the rug.

"Were you able to save anyone?"

He shook his head. "No. There were no survivors. If there were they were dragged off by the Sand People."

"The attacks are getting worse." murmured Padme. "That was the largest settlement yet."

"I know." Obi-Wan said heavily.

Padme's eyes narrowed. "Ben, what is it?"

He looked to her. "There were saber marks on some of the buildings and bodies."

Padme's breath caught. "Do you think it's a Jedi?"

"I don't know. It's someone who has a saber. That's all I know."

She looked at him gravely. "They aren't searching for the children are they?"

Obi-Wan shook his head. "No, if they were the attacks would be more focused. Someone is leading the Sand People...and I think I know who."

Padme stood up and crossed the living space to join him. "You know who?"

"There was only one Jedi I know of who could fight alongside the Sand People like this."

"Another Jedi?" Her eyes widened. "Oh stars, you mean Hett."

Obi-Wan nodded. "I need to confront him. To make him see reason."

"And if you can't?" Padme pressed worriedly.

Obi-Wan looked down at the twins. They were just barely two, and in the last two years he and Padme had grown closer as they'd raised the two children together. He was gradually coming to regard these children as his and Padme as his wife. Thinking about the threat that A'Sharad Hett posed to his adoptive family caused him great worry. He didn't want to imagine them butchered by the Tusken Raiders or worse, carried off and—he shuddered.

"Ben?" she pressed.

"I don't know. I won't kill him. I'll find a way."

She nodded. "How will you find him?"

"Opening myself to the Force. I've kept myself suppressed these last two years. If I open myself up I should be able to find him."

"Won't that endanger us?"

"Anakin thinks you're dead, and Hett and I aren't the only Jedi to survive. Of that I am sure. Vader will be busy with other matters. I won't need to expose myself for long."

"And you'll stop Hett?"

"I have to. There's no other choice."

"What about the other moisture farmers? If they see this—"

"They won't. I'll confront Hett away from the settlements."

She nodded, putting her arms around him. "Do what you have to. I'll be here waiting for you."

* * *

><p>Obi-Wan stood by quietly. He could feel the Tuskens coming his way and in their midst was a blazing presence filled with a vengeful spirit. Over the last few days he'd come to recognize the presence as Hett's. He hadn't succumbed to the Dark Side yet, but he was close to it. He was filled with rage and hate for what had happened first to the Jedi and now to the Sand People. During his tracking of Hett he'd increasingly felt doubt over his ability to convince the wayward Jedi of the folly of his actions. He was certain that Hett had noticed him as well, which was why it had taken Obi-Wan the better part of the week. Now though it seemed that for whatever reason Hett was ready to confront him.<p>

The first bantha's came over the dune and then there were dozens all arrayed in a line facing Obi-Wan. His gaze centered on the first bantha. That was Hett. The warlord rode forwards and stopped, dismounting his bantha and crossing the sands to Obi-Wan.

"You know that standing out in the open in the desert under the suns is bad for you." Obi-Wan said nothing as Hett continued. "I was surprised when I felt another presence in the Force searching for me. I'd thought I was alone. The Order 66 was remarkably effective."

Obi-Wan shrugged. "There are survivors."

"So I see. What are you doing here Master Kenobi? Do you plan to recruit me to whatever cause you're supporting now?"

"No. I am here to ask you to stop your attacks on the moisture farmers."

Hett laughed. "You can't be serious."

"I am serious. I make my home among them now and I cannot stand by and let you kill them."

"I've made my home amongst the Tuskens Kenobi, do you know how many of them the moisture farmers have killed in their expansions? I am defending the oppressed against their oppressors I am fulfilling the Jedi Code and once I am done here I will continue until I have a force to challenge the Empire and bring Palpatine to his knees."

"And that starts with murdering moisture farmers?"

"It is blood for blood Kenobi. The settlers will not stop killing Tuskens, they may either abandon these lands, or be buried beneath it."

"Then I am afraid we have reached an impasse. There is something here that I must protect." Obi-Wan said sadly.

Hett stepped back from him, drawing his sabers. "I am sorry that you cannot see that I am right."

"And I am sorry that you will not listen to reason." Obi-Wan said as he withdrew his saber from his robes.

The blades ignited and the two masters closed with one another. The raiders remained stoically silent as they watched the duel from a safe distance. Obi-Wan had maintained his practice regimen every morning before dawn against remotes but he had not been required to fight a live opponent in two years. Hett had spent the last several months doing nothing but. The difference was obvious. Obi-Wan deflected a vicious sweep at his midsection only to find himself ducking below another swing at his head. Hett had the advantage of two sabers. Still, Obi-Wan could read his aggression. He knew where the blows would fall. Of course that didn't compensate for everything.

Hett landed a punch with the butt of one of his sabers against Obi-Wan's jaw. There was a crack but it didn't feel broken and Obi-Wan recovered with a Force punch to Hett's gut which threw off his follow on attack. It was now or never. Obi-Wan's saber flashed up wards and Hett's arm severed at the shoulder. He didn't cry out, Obi-Wan followed through with another blast of the Force and Hett fell to his knees, holding the stump where his arm had been. Obi-Wan looked to the Tuskens, he needed to make this final. He reached out and tore Hett's mask from his face. There was a long silence as the raiders looked at their defeated warlord, then as one they turned away and rode into the desert.

"Kill me." Hett growled.

"No." Obi-Wan said grimly.

"You've already shamed me before my people, what more do you want from me?"

"I want you to swear to me you'll never return to Tatooine. Swear to me on your father's honor that you will never come back to this planet."

"You would use his name." Hett said. "I would have just killed you."

"I know, but I won't do that. Do you swear?"

"Yes. Yes damn you I swear. I'll be on a transport within the week."

Obi-Wan nodded, killing his saber and standing back from Hett. He thought of what more he could say but there was nothing more to be said. He could only hope that Hett would find his way back to the light on his own. He had his priorities and his former brother in arms was no longer one of them now that he was no longer a threat.

* * *

><p>Obi-Wan entered into the home he shared with Padme and the twins. <em>Their <em>home. Padme stood and came to him, wrapping her arms around him.

"Welcome home." she whispered.

She looked at his bruised face with a slight frown. "You're as bad as Anakin. Every time you leave I have to patch you up when you come home."

Obi-Wan smiled wearily. "I hope Luke doesn't follow in either of our footsteps then."

Padme's smile was sad. "I think he will."

Obi-Wan blinked and examined her features carefully. He'd already closed his connection to the Force once again but he didn't need the Force now to see that something was wrong.

"What happened?"

"Luke was playing with Leia and he—" she took a deep breath. "Ben he was levitating their toys."

Obi-Wan took a deep breath of his own. It was time. He'd wanted there to be a longer period before all this had to begin, but if Luke was starting to manipulate the Force now.

"What about Leia?"

"I don't know, she was just sitting there clapping. I don't know if she was doing any of it or not...Ben...I'm scared."

"I know." he held her close. "I know. I'm sorry."

"Will you begin training them yet?"

He shook his head. "No, not yet. Just tutoring them. The first thing I need to do is show them how to conceal their gifts. Once they can do that, I'll begin teaching them how to use them."

It wouldn't give them much time, Obi-Wan knew that, but it would give them time. Time to live normally for a little while longer. Something he found he didn't mind nearly as much as he'd thought he would have two years prior.


	4. Chapter 3

Obi-Wan sat in the shade cast by the star skiff and watched as the twins played in the relatively cooler sand in the ship's shadow. It had been a long day and he was enjoying the sunset shadows which the twins seemed to be turning into some sort of elaborate game totally alien to an adult mind. In the year that had passed since Luke's first demonstration there had been no resurgence of either his or Leia's Force powers and so Obi-Wan had not endeavored to train or tutor them in any fashion, not wanting to force the issue on either the children or Padme. He suspected that the reason for this lapse was because the twins had sensed the distress their mother had felt over Luke's display and were refraining from further displays.

That they were capable of such displays Obi-Wan did not doubt. He continually found things in their bedroom moved from where they'd been left the night before and he'd seen the mischievous glints in both toddlers' eyes whenever he discovered these movements. For now he was content to let them develop on their own so long as they didn't do anything downright malicious which so far they showed no signs of doing.

He looked over at Padme who was standing nearby watching the two children lovingly. As guilty as he felt admitting this, he was feeling remarkably content with this new life of the past three years. Aside from the encounter with A'Sharad Hett the year before, life here was far simpler than anything he'd ever experienced previously. It was a guilt he hadn't admitted to Padme though he would have to confront it eventually he knew. He would have to face the reality of the situation he knew, he had an obligation to fulfill but for the time being he wanted to enjoy this fantasy while he could.

So lost in his reverie was he that it took the twins' sudden silence for him to realize that something was amiss. He opened himself to the Force and let it flow through him as he searched for the source of the children's sudden discomfort. He found it almost immediately, a presence of sheer malevolence, overflowing with unremitting hate.

He was on his feet immediately. "Leda, take the twins inside the ship." he thought for a moment as the presence began to intensify. "And prepare the ship for take off."

She frowned at him as she gathered the twins to her. "What about you?"

"Don't ask questions Leda, just do it." he said simply, he looked at her confused expression. "Something very bad is coming."

"Is it An—Vader?"

"No, this is different. Get aboard the ship. _Now._"

She didn't ask anymore questions, they'd both heard the near slip. Increasingly, Padme had been referring to Anakin as 'Vader' as if distancing herself from the pain of her husband's choices. She'd also started speaking of him as if he were truly dead. Obi-Wan considered both to be good things ultimately though they were both unkind to Padme since it meant she was furthering herself from Anakin which could only be painful. It did help though for when they had to answer the questions the twins were likely to have when they were old enough to ask such questions.

For now though Obi-Wan had to concentrate on the approaching presence. There was a nagging familiarity to it that had him on edge. Who could this be that had such a determined sense of vengence about them? It wasn't Vader. Of that he was certain. He'd have known if the Dark Lord of the Sith was coming for them. Even suppressing his own Force connection wouldn't have been enough to ignore the sheer power Vader exuded. This was someone weaker, yet that much more hateful.

The hooded figure crested the rise that led to the farmstead and faced Obi-Wan for a long moment. A moment in which Obi-Wan examined his cloaked foe. The only part of his opponent he could see were strange platform four toed cybernetic feet. With a flourish, the figure threw his hood back and Obi-Wan felt his heart stop for an instant.

"You."

Darth Maul sneered back at him. "It took a long time to find you Jedi. You were always one step ahead of me, and the war kept you constantly moving. There is a line of bodies between Naboo and here, people who have seen you or heard rumor of you. It ended with that old junk dealer."

Obi-Wan's eyes narrowed. He'd only dealt with one junk dealer since coming to Tatooine. He wondered if he truly cared that Watto was dead and decided that in the long run, no, it didn't. Still, the death was tragic and shouldn't have happened except for a crazed assassin that had apparently been stalking Obi-Wan since everything had started over a decade ago.

"Does Palpatine know I'm here?" he asked heavily, wondering just how much Maul knew.

"There is no Palpatine. No Empire. No Jedi. There is no light, no dark...just you and I here now." Maul snarled, baring his teeth.

Obi-Wan said nothing as he took in Maul's appearance. Aside from cybernetic legs and abdomen his horns were significantly longer than Obi-Wan remembered them being. Memories flashed before his eyes. Memories of that desperate battle all those years ago and of the pain and hatred he'd held because of the life that Darth Maul had taken from him. He found though that he no longer hated Maul now. He pitied this creature before him. Qui-Gon was not dead, at least not truly. Obi-Wan had both seen and spoken with him and understood that death was not the end. Maul's obsession was truly tragic and a waste of a life.

"Leave now and you will not die this day." Obi-Wan said gravely.

Maul sneered. "If I killed your family, would you still feel so charitable." he looked at the open ramp of the ship behind Obi-Wan. "Perhaps I should kill them first and make you watch."

That was all Obi-Wan needed to hear. He reached out his hand and his saber flew to it in the same motion, igniting as he brought it up in a middle-guard stance.

Maul leaned forwards like a rabid animal, his red gaze blazing with hatred. "That is more like it Kenobi. _DIE!_" he roared as he exploded forwards on his robotic legs, his own saber—another dual bladed staff just like before—blazing to crimson life, igniting the shadows in their red glow.

They clashed in the star skiff's shadow, their blades hissing and whining with crackling energies as Maul roared his challenge and Obi-Wan responded with calm repose, his eyes focused and determined. It didn't take long for him to realize that this was the exact same foe he had fought all those years ago. Whereas Obi-Wan had been forced to adapt and change his style, honing it on countless missions and on dozens of battlefields, Maul had only used his saber against those too helpless to provide him any challenge or chance to grow.

Obi-Wan parried the all too familiar blows. Blocking each strike exactly, forcing Maul away from the ship, the children, and Padme. The zabrak continued to lose ground and he knew it as his assaults grew more desperate.

"Stop toying with me!" he snarled, lunging forwards.

"As you wish." Obi-Wan replied, jumping over the strike and grabbing a hold of Maul's horns with his free hand.

There was a sickening snapping sound and Maul howled in agony as Obi-Wan landed with the bloodied tips of the Sith's horns in his hand. His saber flashed and Maul's right arm was severed, his saber splitting in two. He roared with anguished fury, grabbing for one of the shattered hilts and turning to face Obi-Wan again, only to find Obi-Wan's lightsaber emitter pointed at his face.

"I give you the chance to withdraw again." Obi-Wan said calmly.

Maul snarled at him. "I will not yield. You will die."

"No." Obi-Wan said simply, stepping back from Maul. "You are beaten. Don't throw your life away again."

"I will hunt you and everyone you care about until one of us is dead." snarled Maul.

"And I will beat you each time and you will be further humiliated."

Maul sneered. "Not if I kill your children fir—" he never finished his words as a blaster bolt blew the Sith's head off.

Obi-Wan stood there, stupefied for a moment before he turned to look at the ship. Padme stood on the ramp, her body erect and in perfect marksman's form. A blast pistol was in her outstretched arm, its barrel still smoking. Obi-Wan looked from her to the body and back again. She lowered the pistol calmly as the twins came down the ramp, clinging to her legs. Obi-Wan turned so that he blocked their view of the body. He knelt and hefted it in his arms.

"What are you doing?" Padme asked.

"Giving him what peace I can...if I can." Obi-Wan replied somberly.

She said nothing for a moment before she nodded. "We'll be waiting. Come back to us."

Obi-Wan paused for a moment, considering Padme's words before he nodded in turn. "I will."

* * *

><p>Obi-Wan stood back from the funeral pyre, watching as Maul's body was consumed by the lapping flames. He could find no satisfaction in his heart over this. The Sith's death had been meaningless. He knew that it had to end like this or the hate filled zabrak would have continued to hound them until he truly did kill one of the children and he could never have allowed that. Still, to see a life thrown away so pointlessly. He looked down at the shattered remains of Maul's saber thoughtfully. He'd been thinking of how best to construct the twins' first sabers. What irony that it would be his old nemisis that would provide the mechanism to do so with such relative ease.<p>

"What troubles you Obi-Wan?"

Obi-Wan took a deep breath as Qui-Gon came to stand besides him.

"I feel a great burden is upon me Master. I do not know that I am equal to the task."

"And what makes you say that? You are proving to be an adept guardian for the children."

"That's just it Master. I am coming to care too much for them. I am beginning to feel that they should be spared from their fate and allowed a normal life."

"You are becoming their father." Qui-Gon said simply.

Obi-Wan looked at the dancing flames. "Yes."

"That is good." Qui-Gon said with a faint smile.

Obi-Wan frowned. "How is that a good thing?"

"Obi-Wan, the Jedi failed. Methods that have worked for thousands of years failed us when we were faced with the chance to bring balance to the Force. What does that tell you?"

Obi-Wan looked back to Maul's pyre, seeking the answers to his Master's query. When they came, they were painfully obvious.

"That we must change our methods." he said finally.

Qui-Gon nodded. "Indeed. We must grow, we must adapt, but most importantly, we must survive."

Obi-Wan nodded his understanding. "It brought me no pleasure." he said quietly. "I thought that seeing him again would rekindle the hatred I felt in that moment all those years ago...but this...it was such a waste."

Qui-Gon nodded. "You cannot change a person's destiny anymore than they can escape their fate. The children of Skywalker will grow to be Jedi and in time will rekindle the Order into a new and stronger force than ever it was before. For that to happen, they will need a good teacher..." he smiled. "And a better father."

"I'll do my best Master."

Qui-Gon's smile remained in place as he faded away. "I know you will."


	5. Chapter 4

"Taxes and protection money?" cried an outraged farmer. "We can't afford that! Most of us barely get by as it is!"

"Do we have a choice?" asked another, sounding resigned.

"Call it whatever you like." Huff Darklighter said somberly. "I ain't making a fuss."

"Most of us don't have all the money and water in the world Huff." said Owen dubiously. "We can't afford to pay both the Hutts and the Imperials. It has to be one or the other."

"What kind of assurances can the Imperials give us? Will they protect us from the crime lords if we pay their taxes?"

Obi-Wan didn't really listen to the argument. Neither paying taxes or protection money mattered overmuch to him. His farmstead was too small and too isolated for the Hutts to take notice of it. He didn't think the Imperials would take any more notice of it than the crime lords did. What he was concerned about was the presence of the Empire on Tatooine finally. He'd known that it was bound to happen, much as he might have liked it to be otherwise. With the arrival of the Empire came the increased risk that someone might recognize Padme and report her presence to the Emperor or his Dark Lord. The last four years had been relatively peaceful with only minor incidents to mark the passage of time and nothing that was out of either Obi-Wan's or Padme's league. If word were to get out now that Padme was alive nothing but trouble would follow.

So engrossed in these concerns was Obi-Wan that he very nearly missed the end of the meeting.

"I will speak with the Imperial authorities about your concerns." Huff Darklighter was saying. "We will reconvene next week to discuss their response."

* * *

><p>"How are the wife and kids?" inquired Owen as Obi-Wan mounted his speeder bike.<p>

"They're fine. Leda has taken to tutoring them these days so I'm left doing most of the work around the farm."

It was half the truth, Padme had indeed taken it upon herself—along with Artoo and Threepio's assistance—to giving the twins a proper education and while not thrilled about it, both were absorbing their much needed education. Leia especially was a quick study, picking up theories much faster than Luke did though he was not a slacker by any means. The other half of the matter was that two years ago the twins had started using their Force affinity in earnest. The twins had been playing behind the house while Obi-Wan and the droids had been working on one of the vaporators. There had been a scream and Obi-Wan had come running, fearing the worst. When he'd arrived he'd found the twins pelting a trio of womp rats with stones. Force thrown stones. He had watched as they'd driven off the three overgrown rodents and then come in to scoop the sobbing five year olds up in his arms, carrying them inside to their mother who had been able to soothe them.

Obi-Wan had started their lessons the following day. Shortly after defeating Darth Maul, Obi-Wan had used the remnants of the Sith's saber-staff to craft two small practice lightsabers for the twins and now he led them in drills each morning. Both were proving proficient and he now trusted them enough to run their own practices against the remote though it was set no where near Obi-Wan's own level of course. Their Force use lessons were coming along nicely as well. Both children were proving adept at their studies and every bit Anakin's children as far as potential was concerned. They had been advancing steadily in their skill level ever since. The hardest thing to teach them was to keep a secret. They were both very excited about their abilities and Luke especially loved the lightsaber training. Ensuring that they understood how important it was to keep their heritage a secret was a challenge unto itself with two seven year olds.

"Beru was wondering if the kids would like to come by sometime. You and Leda are welcome too of course." Own said.

"I'm sure they'd enjoy that." Obi-Wan said graciously.

Owen nodded gruffly. Though he often played the tough moisture farmer, Obi-Wan knew how much he loved the children as if they were his own. He was every bit the loving uncle under the gruffness just as Beru played the loving aunt to perfection, showering the children with praise and nothing but smiles whenever they visited. It was an unspoken subject among their family, but Beru and Owen had tried repeatedly to have children to no avail. Seeing the twins brought Beru a great deal of joy. A joy that Owen was more than willing to suffer the noise of the pair to bring her. Besides which, Padme and Beru had become good friends as well even if Obi-Wan and Owen did not expressly enjoy each the others company.

"Ah, Ben! Owen!" boomed Huff Darklighter. "I'm hosting a dinner this evening and I'd like both of you to attend. Your families are more than welcome to join of course."

Owen glowered at the wealthy farmer. "You aren't going to buy me Huff."

Huff laughed. "I'm not trying to Owen. It's merely a friendly dinner."

Obi-Wan was inclined to agree with Owen on this matter. Huff Darklighter was one of the richest moisture farmers on Tatooine, certainly the richest in this area at any rate, and he rarely did anything without an ulterior motive. However he did not possess Owen's stubborn streak, nor could he afford to insult the water baron.

"What time is the dinner?" he asked.

"We'll begin serving dinner just after sun down. There will of course be appetizers before then."

Obi-Wan nodded. "We will be happy to attend."

Owen glared. "The answer is still no."

Huff was still smiling though his annoyance was evident in his icy tone. "No hard feelings Owen."

"None." Owen agreed.

As Huff left them, Owen turned to look at Obi-Wan.

"Be careful with him."

"I don't want him taking anymore note of me than he has to." Obi-Wan replied.

"Huff Darklighter is a schemer." Owen said simply. "And this stinks worse than a dead Bantha."

* * *

><p>"It's been a while since I've been to one of these." Padme said as she and Obi-Wan walked into the central yard of the Darklighter estate.<p>

"I hope you don't mind coming." Obi-Wan said, putting a hand on hers. "I just hate this sort of thing."

Padme laughed. "Oh Ben, you're as bad as he was."

Obi-Wan managed a hesitant smile. "No, I guess he didn't much like these sorts of things either."

"Ah Ben! I see you made it after all." Huff said with booming joviality as he walked up to them. "And who is this treasure you've brought with you?" the water baron said as he took Padme's hand and kissed it. "The lovely Leda I presume? Ben's description hardly does you justice my dear."

Padme smiled radiantly back at Huff. "You're far too kind Mr. Darklighter, please, allow me to introduce my children."

She beckoned the twins up and they came forwards, Luke was starry eyed at all the wealth around him while Leia held herself with the same regal manner that her mother did, though Obi-Wan could feel her uncertainty beneath the facade.

"This is Leia." she said as Huff knelt down and kissed Leia's hand in the same manner he had Padme's, causing the little girl to blush. "And this is Luke."

Huff looked down at Luke who looked back at him determinedly before the man burst out laughing. "Biggs m'boy! Come here lad I have a new rascal for you!"

A boy a few years older than Luke came forwards, he had short black hair that was tussled and unruly though he had smiling features as he looked at them all eagerly.

"Biggs, this is Luke." Huff said by way of introduction.

Huff's son stuck his hand out. "I'm Biggs."

"Uh, I'm Luke." the sandy-haired youth replied taking Biggs' offered hand.

"Cool." Biggs said, yanking Luke off after him. "Come on, let's go have some fun!"

And without another word, Biggs dragged Luke off into the crowd. Leia looked up at Padme who nodded indulgently. Leia's face broke out in a smile as she ran off after her brother and his new friend.

Huff chuckled. "I wonder what little hellions we've unleashed."

"They'll be fine I'm sure." Padme said quietly. Turning to Obi-Wan with a strange expression on her face. "Now I think my husband owes me a dance."

Obi-Wan blinked and looked from Padme to Huff who laughed. "Don't look to me Ben, the lady says she wants, a dance I say she can have it!"

Padme led him out into the center of the yard where other dancers were already swaying to the music of the live band. She turned and smiled at him, helping him place his hands. One on her hip, the other held in her outstretched hand.

"I've never done this before." Obi-Wan said stupidly.

Padme gave him an exasperated smile as she spoke in low tones. "You can jump all over a battle waving a lightsaber but you can't dance?" she giggled a little. "I suppose that shouldn't surprise me. I never could get Anakin to dance either. You'd think the Jedi would teach something like that." she said mockingly.

"You can teach the twins." Obi-Wan replied with a scowl. "Be careful what you say in public." he added in a murmur.

"No one is paying attention." she replied calmly. "Now follow me, and don't step on my toes Ben." she chided as she began to sway back and forth to the music the band was playing. "It's easy, just sway to the music."

Obi-Wan did as he was told, shifting his weight from hip to hip and leg to leg in time with Padme's own movements and soon he found himself falling into a rhythm. Much to his delight he didn't trod upon her shoes. After a while he stopped watching his feet and began watching her. She wore a thick green and brown shawl with a low cut around her neck and a gray-sand colored dress beneath that. It was nothing luxurious but it still cast her in a very flattering light.

"Do you miss him?" Obi-Wan asked quietly as Padme drew near to him.

He felt her heart jump against his body as they swayed together and she placed her forehead against his chest.

"Yes. I wish he was here. I wish I could be showing him how to dance. Showing him the smiles of our children."

Obi-Wan put his hands around her, still swaying gently to the music. He could feel the moisture of her tears against his tunic. He stroked her hair soothingly.

"I'm sorry."

"No." she murmured softly. "I'm sorry. I keep bringing him up." she looked around them at all the smiling faces. "It just struck me tonight in particular how much I miss him." she looked up at Obi-Wan. "Ben, I'm sorry." she pulled away from him and walked away from the dancers, leaving Obi-Wan standing alone until he too retreated from the dance floor.

"Biggs!" he heard Huff shout.

Obi-Wan turned to find Biggs, Luke, and a few other children, had clambered up the side wall of the yard. He sighed and joined several other fathers in retrieving the wayward boys.

* * *

><p>As promised, dinner was served just as the binaries touched the horizon. Padme was very quiet as she sat next to Obi-Wan and ate, when spoken to she said that she was feeling tired and apologized for her quietness politely. No one pressed the issue, as the twins were proving just how rambunctious they could be, and under the tutelage of Biggs there was no lack of sympathy for what everyone perceived to be 'poor Leda'. Of course many of the men at the dinner were also just looking at Padme because she was one of the most beautiful women there with her hair loose and curled in rippling waves down her back. Even with the relatively formless shall she wore over the simple dress, she was still gorgeous and nothing could suppress her presence much as Obi-Wan may have wished otherwise.<p>

For his part, Obi-Wan was still unsure how to deal with Padme's emotions. His own were mixed as well. He wasn't sure how to console Padme in regards to Anakin as there really was nothing to be said. Was he supposed to be sorry for very nearly killing him? Or that Anakin had turned into a monster? Neither seemed like they would be particularly productive so he had said nothing all these years, save to do his best to be there for Padme when Anakin obviously could not.

Obi-Wan's concerns though where put aside though when Huff stood up at the head table to their left and clapped his hands a few times loudly.

"My friends, I want to thank you all for coming here this evening and sharing this dinner with myself and my family. There have been many concerns recently about what our new Imperial governors intend to do now that they are stationing a permanent force here on Tatooine." this brought all side conversation to an end as everyone's attention focused fully on Huff who gestured to the main door to the yard grandly. "May I present to you Moff Joachim Brance, our new Imperial governor."

The doors opened and said Moff, along with several Imperial officers, walked into the center of the yard which had gone dead silent as everyone absorbed the coup that Huff had just delivered. Obi-Wan was one of the only people who didn't care about the political implications of this appearance by the Moff and his attendants. He was more concerned with what the Moff would do if he were to recognize Padme. Obi-Wan shot a sidelong glance at her in that moment and was surprised to both see and sense how calm she was about this development. In fact her features were a mask of serenity which were mirrored on the surface of her emotions. He was astounded by her repose and resolved to mimic it as best as he was able though he was far from being the politician she was.

Moff Brance made a grand gesture of his own, sweeping his hand to encompass all the assembled moisture farmers.

"I understand that not all of you are sure about the Empire's ability to protect you from the crime lords and their racketeering, however I am here to pledge to you that the Empire is fully committed to maintaining the peace. We've already set up a garrison in Bestine and will be expanding to other major habitats as well. Once we've established our garrisons patrols will begin in earnest. These patrols are for your protection and should you have any trouble with the local thugs these patrols will respond with force if necessary to subdue any illegals."

This brought the expected rumblings but no one was willing to voice any real concerns as Moff Brance continued.

"I would like to thank our gracious host, Huff Darklighter, for proposing this meeting and allowing me to address your concerns directly. Don't let me stop you from enjoying your evening, but should you have questions for me please, myself and my officers are here to serve."

Obi-Wan watched the other moisture farmers carefully. None of them were happy with this, Huff Darklighter had pulled one over all their eyes and in so doing had set himself up as the principle go between the Imperials and farmers. It was a position he'd already had being the wealthiest of the assembled but now it was no longer just an honorary title. The Imperials would go through him now in all matters as well. Huff had just become a very powerful and dangerous man.

* * *

><p>"Pardon me." Moff Brance said politely as he approached Obi-Wan and Padme after dinner had finally been cleared away.<p>

Obi-Wan stiffened at the Imperial's approach but Padme remained serene as she flashed her smile at the Imperial governor.

"Yes my lord?" Obi-Wan asked defferentially as he steadied his nerves.

"I wondered if I might have a word with your wife." Moff Brance said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Leda is it not?"

"Yes my lord." Padme replied, her smile never wavering.

"Has anyone ever told you that you bear a remarkable resemblance to the late Senator Amidala?" the Moff inquired pleasantly.

Obi-Wan's heart turned to ice and his hand dropped reflexively to his waist where his lightsaber sat beneath his tunic. He looked around searchingly for the twins. Could he get them and Padme out safely before the Imperial's closed in? He thought so. He didn't have a choice.

"Yes." Padme replied, much to Obi-Wan's alarm. "I've heard that before but she was from Naboo I believe yes? I'm from Chandrilla. My husband and I met there during the war when he was injured and recovering there." she turned her smile on Obi-Wan. "Though ask my husband and he'll tell you that I'm far more beautiful." she leaned conspiratorially over to Moff Brance as if Obi-Wan couldn't hear them. "His eyesight hasn't been the same since the war."

The Moff laughed and looked to Obi-Wan. "Sir you have quite the treasure of a wife. Be careful or someone may steal her from you."

Obi-Wan nodded in some form of thank you. "I keep a very close eye on her, I don't think I could handle the children by myself."

"And speaking of the children." Padme added. "I think it is well passed time for us to get them home."

"Of course." Moff Brance said courteously. "I will not keep you any longer. It was a pleasure to meet you both. Good night."

* * *

><p>"They're completely washed out." Padme said as she looked at the backseat where the twins were sleeping soundly as the speeder whisked across the desert night.<p>

"Luke and Biggs seem inseparable." Obi-Wan remarked. "I don't think I've seen Luke get into so much trouble."

"I think Biggs has a crush on Leia." Padme said with a warm smile.

Obi-Wan snorted. "Can you blame him? Did you see the way she punched that boy that made Luke cry?"

"You mean Tank?" Padme inquired.

Obi-Wan couldn't help but laugh. "Tank? Is that what they call him? Certainly fitting."

Padme put a hand on Obi-Wan's leg then and he tensed, looking over at her questioningly. "Thank you for trusting me tonight." she said simply.

"You mean with the Moff?"

She nodded. "I know you were terrified. I saw you tense up." she smiled wryly. "I don't think he really believes everything we said to him, but he's going to have more than a few moisture farmers on his mind if he truly intends to expand Imperial control on Tatooine. The hutts aren't going to just roll over and play dead after all."

"Still, I think we should avoid him in the future." Obi-Wan said, feeling that discretion was the better part of valor in this case.

Padme nodded agreement. "Yes, I think it would be best. Hopefully Huff doesn't do many more dinners like that...though it was nice to go out again." she stopped then and looked over at Obi-Wan. "I'm sorry."

Obi-Wan looked at her again before turning his gaze to the endless desert. "You do not have to apologize to me Padme. I know how much you loved him."

She didn't say anything more, leaning back in the chair and closing her eyes as Obi-Wan continued driving towards the relative safety of their farmstead. Away from the growing Imperial presence and the memories and politics it brought with it.


	6. Chapter 5

Obi-Wan let the repulsors settle the landspeeder onto the ground before killing the engine. He climbed out of the speeder and looked around at the farmstead that he'd spent the last ten years raising a family in. It was strange to consider this place his home, but in all honesty, it had become just that. It was here that he'd raised and continued to raise Luke and Leia with their mother Padme. It was stranger still to find that he found himself the father of children belonging to a man once his pupil, friend, and even brother who was now the antithesis of everything that he stood for. That made little difference though. Obi-Wan had come to regard the twins as his own to a great deal, the intimacy a master and apprentice usually shared had only intensified through the roll of surrogate father. The title of father had become a comfortable mantle as well, it was no longer merely a ruse to keep the children safe but a title Obi-Wan wore with a good amount of pride.

This afternoon though, it was a mantle he could put down for a time. The twins were staying with their Aunt and Uncle. It was one of the few times the twins were able to escape from Obi-Wan's constant lessons with the Force and lightsaber, or their mother's incessant lessons about the galaxy at large. Though their Uncle Owen was a gruff and hard man, he had a good heart though he and Obi-Wan hardly saw eye to eye on most matters this was counterbalanced by Aunt Beru who loved the twins unconditionally with all her heart. Padme had been very right when they'd first come to Tatooine, the twins had indeed benefited from having a family.

Obi-Wan crossed the strip of sand to the farmhouse and entered to find himself engulfed in darkness. He frowned. Why were all the lights off? He reached for the control panel besides the door but stopped as two golden circles peered at him from the gloom.

"Excuse me Master Ben." C-3PO said politely. "Mistress Leda asked that you leave the lights off. She's waiting for you in the living room."

Obi-Wan frowned at the golden droids photoceptors, wondering what Padme was doing. "Did she say why?"

"No sir. Only that I should direct you to the living room once you returned."

"Thank you Threepio, I'll find my own way."

"Of course sir."

Obi-Wan made his way past the droid and through the entryway to the living room and was greeted by the golden glow of a dozen or so candles scattered around the room's perimeter. The candle flames cast the room in a flickering glow that gave the entire scene a soothing and alluring atmosphere but the lighting was not what captured Obi-Wan's attention. That distinction belonged to Padme who stood in the center of the room, highlighted by the soft golden light. She wore a black evening dress whose black leather top hugged her torso and was complimented by matching black fingerless leather gloves that started at her upper arm and went down to her hands, leaving her shoulders and neckline exposed. Her hair was done back in a simple braid as she stood there with a subtle smile on her face.

"What's the occasion?" Obi-Wan asked quietly, not sure if he trusted his voice.

"Us." Padme replied.

Obi-Wan couldn't help but notice the rise and fall of Padme's chest and shoulders with her breathing and found his own breathing intensifying uncomfortably. He quickly calmed himself as he replied curiously.

"Us?"

She smiled at him indulgently. "Obi-Wan, we've raised the children together for the last decade. In that time you've been their father and my strength before you ever thought of being a Jedi Master. I've wanted to thank you for sometime now. I finally found the courage to show you how thankful I am."

Obi-Wan frowned. "You should know that I don't want or need any thanks Padme, and certainly not like this." he said with a gesture that encompassed her and the living room.

"This wasn't for you Obi-Wan." she said as she crossed the space between them. "It was for me."

Obi-Wan felt a wave of guilt wash through him as he realized just how beautiful Padme was in that moment as she looked up at him confidently. This was Anakin's wife. Even if Anakin was long dead, it felt like a betrayal of his onetime friend.

"Padme I—" he began.

"Obi-Wan." she straightened, looking into his eyes with great determination. "Anakin is gone. I still believe that there is good within him and that one day he will redeem himself, but he is gone. We both have to accept that and live our lives free of his ghost." her eyes softened and he sensed uncertainty suddenly from her. "Don't make me doubt this, not when I've finally found the strength to move on."

He opened his mouth to reply but she reached up and pulled him down into a hesitant kiss. It was neither deep nor passionate, merely exploratory and its brevity was followed by an awkward silence between the two of them as Padme looked into his eyes searchingly.

"That, was for you." she murmured. "Obi-Wan, I love you, I'm sorry if I—"

She didn't get the chance to finish as he leaned down and kissed her fully, and this time the kiss was both deep and passionate as his guilt washed away with the growing affection he'd kept in check over the past decade. The kiss turned into a chain of kisses as they leaned into one another. When they finally stopped, they stood close together breathlessly amidst the glow cast by the candles.

Padme leaned her head against Obi-Wan's chest as she slipped her arms around his back. "I love you."

Obi-Wan leaned down and kissed her head. "And I you."

"Thank you." she whispered.

He looked down at her. "I thought you already thanked me?"

She gazed up at him, her eyes betraying a mixture of affection and sorrow. "For not allowing the Force to take both of the men I've loved from me."

Obi-Wan said nothing. He had nothing to say in response. All he could do was hold her close as the rise and fall of her breathing against his chest. He was suddenly very aware of what Anakin must have faced, what had driven him to the Dark Side eventually. He could not imagine the anguish Anakin must have felt, fearing that he would Padme and Obi-Wan had the added burden of fearing for her—their—children as well. A part of him felt many lingering doubts about what he'd just done, what he knew was going to happen next if this was allowed to continue, and yet he found he was strangely willing to allow it to do just that.

The choice was taken out of his hands a moment later as his comlink buzzed on his belt.

"You should answer that." Padme murmured as she leaned against him. "It's probably Owen or Beru."

Sighing heavily, Obi-Wan released her and reached down for the comlink. "This is Ben Jin."

"Ben, it's Owen. Luke's run away."

The mood changed immediately as Padme's eyes widened and she pulled back from Obi-Wan.

"What happened?" he asked.

"He was asking about his father." Owen said, sounding anguished as he continued. "He kept asking questions and I lost my temper. I shouted and he went to the guest room. When Beru went to check on him for dinner he was gone."

"Is Leia alright?" Padme asked.

"Yes." Owen said immediately. "She's upset but she's here."

"I'll be there as soon as I can." Padme said, turning and heading towards their bedroom.

"I'll start searching for Luke from this end." Obi-Wan said. "Can you start looking from yours?"

"Of course." Owen sounded miserable as he added. "Ben, I'm sorry."

"Nevermind that now, let's just find Luke. There's a sandstorm warning tonight, I don't want to leave him out in it."

* * *

><p>Sand clung to Luke's face where his tears had once moistened his cheeks as he staggered through the dunes. He wanted to go home. To his mother, and to his adoptive father. He was frightened and he was alone, but most of all he was hurt. He wanted to know about his real father. He wanted to know why his mother was with someone she was only now coming to love. It didn't matter that Ben wasn't his real father, Luke knew that Ben loved both him and his sister. He just wanted to understand why things were the way they were. His uncle's outburst had taken Luke by surprise. Normally he was able to read someone's emotions and knew when to stop—it was why he'd never pressed his mother or father about his real father—but this time he'd missed the cues and his uncle had started shouting.<p>

In hindsight, running into the desert had not been the best idea but it was too late to go back now. He'd gotten turned around and he wasn't sure which way he was going. He kept trying to reach out with the Force, the same way that his father had taught him over and over again but he was too emotional to focus and too weak to reach far enough even when he mustered the strength within him to do so.

The wind was beginning to pick up noticeably, blowing the sand drifts across and against him. He knew what that meant. Sandstorm. He wasn't sure what he could do about it though since the only perceivable cover in sight was a large outcropping of rock some distance away. He'd been making for this rocky crag for the last hour and it was now coming into clearer view. Hopefully he could reach it before the storm picked up and he was too blind to see. Luke didn't need to be told what would happen to him if he was caught out in the storm. Biggs and the others were always only too happy to share stories of farmers and others caught out in the desert winds.

At first he'd been following what he thought was a tall, black robed figure but as he'd walked, the man's silhouette had melted away into the rock formation ahead of him. Despite the fact that Luke had been certain he'd seen someone, he'd forgotten about the mysterious figure as soon as he'd seen the promise of cover from the heat and sand.

The twin suns were low in the sky, dipping towards the horizon behind the rocks and as Luke staggered into their shadow he felt the welcome coolness touch him and wiped his brow. It was still amazingly hot, but at least it wasn't _as _hot. That was all that mattered. The sand gave way to the brown rock of the desert and Luke began searching for a place to take shelter as the wind grew in strength and vortexes of sand began to form, whipping at the rocks around him violently.

"Hey! Over here!"

Luke turned to find a small boy waving at him from the shadow of what appeared to be a cave. He was too concerned with finding shelter to wonder why a boy was out here and hurried towards him, scrambling over the rocks until he was standing in front of the cave.

"What are you doing out here?" the boy asked quizzically.

Luke looked at the boy with a frown, he had sandy blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

"What are _you_ doing out here?" Luke returned with a frown.

Instead of answering, the boy looked out at the desert. "The sandstorm's coming. Come on, the cave is pretty big. We should be safe inside."

Luke hesitated for a moment and the boy turned back to him and beckoned with a wave of his hand. "Come on."

Nodding, Luke followed the other boy inside the cave, it was dark but not for long as the boy took a glowstick out from his backpack and held it up. Luke took the moment to look around at their surroundings.

They were in a small grotto, the floor of which was covered in sand. Luke jumped as his eyes fell on a collection of rags and bones at the center of the cave.

"Oh don't worry about him." the other boy said dismissively. "He's dead."

Luke stared at the dead Tusken for a long time, the outstretched hand reaching for the gaffi stick just out of reach.

"Why don't you take the stick? He's not going to need it." the boy prompted helpfully.

Luke looked at the body and shuddered, feeling his insides writhe.

"Why don't you take it?" he asked.

"You're bigger." the boy replied matter of factly.

Luke winced and walked gingerly around the dead Tusken, reaching for the gaffi stick as if it were a sand viper.

"It's not going to bite." the other boy said. "Stop being such a frightened ronto."

Luke scowled and grabbed the gaffi stick, pulling it up out of the sand and away from the dead body. It was almost as long as he was tall but he still managed to hold up the metal weapon.

"Heh, you look pretty stoopa." the boy laughed.

Luke glared at him. "You told me to pick it up!"

The boy continued laughing. "Yeah, but I didn't think you'd look so funny!"

Luke's face heated as the boy continued to laugh at him and fresh tears stung his eyes.

"Shut up stoopa!" he shouted, pushing the other boy back with the shaft of the gaffi stick.

The boy stopped laughing then, looking at Luke's face worriedly. "It was just a joke." there was an awkward pause as the boy looked away. "I'm sorry."

The silence continued for a moment more before Luke spoke up finally.

"I'm Luke."

The boy managed a smile. "Anakin, but everyone calls me Ani."

"What are you doing out here?"

Just then a terrifying howl came from the front of the cave which caught both boys' attention as they turned back to look for the source of the sound.

"It's just the wind." Luke said shakily.

Anakin nodded. "I guess."

The two boys settled in on the floor of the cave, Anakin placed his glow stick between them so they had illumination and Luke clung to the gaffi stick, doing his best not to look over at the corpse of the Tusken Raider.

"So, what are you doing out in the storm?" Anakin asked again finally.

"I had a fight with my uncle." Luke replied, leaning forwards. "He wouldn't tell me about my father and we started yelling. I was angry and so I ran away. Pretty stoopa right?"

Anakin nodded in understanding. "I don't know my father either. I don't know if I even have a father actually. Mom never told me."

"I have a mother." Luke said. "And a stepfather, but they never talk about my real father...do you ever wonder about yours?"

"No, not really." Anakin replied. "I never knew him and mom's always there for me so I don't think about him all that much. I'm usually too busy anyways."

"Busy?" Luke asked.

Anakin nodded. "I've been building a podracer and a droid too. I'm a really good mechanic and pilot."

"Oh." Luke's eyes lit up. "Me too! Isn't podracing illegal now though?"

Anakin frowned. "Is it? I didn't know that. What about the races every year?"

Luke thought for a moment. "There haven't been any podraces since the Empire showed up a few years ago."

Anakin's frown deepened. "Really? I didn't know that. Why'd they go and do that?"

Luke shrugged. "I don't know. Have you flown before?"

Anakin nodded. "A few times, the podracer I have now used to belong to the junker who owns my mom and me. He used to let me fly it before I crashed it...now I'm rebuilding it." he smiled conspiratorially. "He doesn't know."

Luke's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yup, don't tell alright?"

"I won't." Luke replied. "You're pretty cool Anakin."

Anakin smiled. "Thanks. What about you? You said you could fly?"

"Well...my father lets me drive the family landspeeder around, it's pretty slow though. I want to get something faster."

"What does your family have?"

"An X-28."

Anakin nodded. "Those are pretty good, getting a little old though."

"I know, I'm hoping that they'll let me get one for myself, a newer one."

Now it was Anakin's eyes that widened. "You have enough money to buy a new landspeeder?"

"Well, I've been saving." Luke admitted.

Anakin whistled. "You must've been saving for a longtime then!"

"Yeah." Luke replied sheepishly. "My sister wants a hunting blaster."

Anakin snorted. "What does a girl need a blaster for?"

Luke shrugged. "Our mother is a good shot, she shot someone that dad was fighting once."

"Wow." Anakin said in awe. "I don't want to make your mom angry."

"We also have an old starship." Luke added. "I don't think we've ever used it, but I'm pretty sure it still works." now it was his turn to look conspiratorial. "I wish I could take it and fly off this rock. I hate it here."

Anakin nodded emphatically. "Yeah me too, I want to leave someday. Hey, if you ever do leave, can I come with you?"

Luke nodded. "Sure."

"Promise?" Anakin asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

Luke stuck out his hand. "Promise."

They shook, both boys smiling, but the smiles quickly changed as a series of chattering growls greeted their ears. They jumped to their feet, Luke holding the gaffi stick defensively as Anakin held up his glowstick. Above them on a the lip of a smaller cave, a pack of snarling and snapping womp rats looked down at them.

"Run!" Luke shouted as the first rat jumped at them and he smashed its head in with a swing of the gaffi stick.

He turned and followed after Anakin who was rushing towards the cave entrance in a mad dash to get away from the rats. Luke jumped over a rock, looking over his shoulder as he landed to see the rats pouring after them.

"Keep going!" he cried as Anakin reached the edge of the cave and turned to look back.

Luke caught up to the other boy and they both dashed down the slope and back out into the sandstorm. Then Luke tripped over something solid in the sand and tumbled over in a heap.

Anakin grabbed his arm and helped him to his feet. "Are you okay?"

Luke nodded dazedly, looking at the half buried astromech droid lying on its side.

"I can use this." Anakin said suddenly. "Keep them back."

Luke nodded, turning to face the oncoming swarm of rats. There were at least a dozen of the creatures and they soon encircled the two boys, snarling and snapping angrily at them though Luke's repeated swings with the gaffi stick kept them at a distance. The weapon was heavier than the sabers that his father had them practice with, but the movement was the same. Luke was suddenly grateful for the few hours spent everyday drilling with his father. They'd always seemed so tedious before but now he saw the use in them. He'd never complain again.

"What are you doing?" he called over his shoulder as he clubbed a womp rat to the ground with a sickening crunch.

"Just give me a moment...there! Cover your eyes!" Anakin shouted.

Luke jerked his hand up just as a flash lit up the area around them. The womp rats shrieked and when Luke looked around, they were gone.

"What did you do?" he asked Anakin who was smiling triumphantly by the deactivated droid.

"I used its motivator to create a flash. Womp rats don't like loud noises or sudden lights. Scares the poodoo out of them."

Luke opened his mouth but his reply was cut off as a massive form loomed out of the sand blowing around them. The krayt dragon looked down at the pair of them before opening its mouth and letting out a hissing bellow. Both boys scrambled out of the way of the beast's snapping jaws as it dove for them, striking nothing but air.

Luke turned around and looked for Anakin. "Ani!" the other boy was nowhere in sight.

The dragon turned towards him, looming up and snarling at him viciously. Luke's eyes widened as the beat opened its jaws. Anakin's backpack was hanging from one of its teeth.

Letting out a furious scream as tears began to pour from his eyes, Luke threw his gaffi stick up at the krayt dragon like a spear. It sailed up and into the beast's open maw and stuck there against the roof of its mouth. The dragon snapped its jaws shut and then stopped moving altogether. Tottering there for a moment before toppling over and slamming into the sand, throwing Luke into the air.

He landed on his head, lights flashing before his eyes and he lay there dazedly staring up at the sand covered sky. Where was Ani? Had the dragon really eaten him? Was he going to die? He missed his mother, and his father, and his sister. He wanted to go home, he began crying again just before he lost consciousness.

* * *

><p>Obi-Wan leaned low over the handlebars of the speederbike as he raced over the freshly blown dunes. He could feel Luke nearby, though he was weak and fading. The sandstorm had passed sometime ago now and for whatever reason Luke's presence was very obvious in the Force where before it had been muffled somehow. He looked at the rapidly approaching spire of rock and gunned the engine again, increasing his speed. He'd never forgive himself if the boy died. Not just because of his importance to the revival of the Jedi, but also because Luke meant something to Obi-Wan as well. Whatever destiny the boy had, he was Obi-Wan's son now as far as anyone—including Obi-Wan—was concerned.<p>

The spire came into better view and Obi-Wan saw a large mound of sand at its base. He frowned, Luke's presence was coming from that mound. He stopped the bike and jumped from it, landing heavily on the sand as he moved to the dune and began to shift the sand with wide sweeps of the Force.

The first thing he uncovered was the head of a krayt dragon which managed to scare the wits out of him for a moment, there was a gaderffi stick poking out of the top its skull. Obi-Wan resumed his digging and soon found Luke, laying in a small depression created by the forelimb of the dragon.

"Luke!" Obi-Wan reached down and scooped the boy up in his arms. He was a bit old to be carried by now but Obi-Wan didn't care. "Luke, can you hear me?"

Luke stirred in his arms, his eyes opening as he looked up at Obi-Wan blearily.

"Father?" he asked hoarsely.

Obi-Wan hefted Luke in one arm, taking out his canteen with the other and holding it up for the boy who drank from it eagerly.

When Luke was finished he closed his eyes again.

"Dad, where's Ani?"

Obi-Wan frowned. "Who?"

"Ani, he was with me in the cave. We fought off the womp rats together. Is he okay?"

Obi-Wan reached out with his senses, trying to find another presence somewhere in the sand. There were none, save for the animals he found nearby.

"There's no one else here." he said.

"He was here. We were going to leave together. We promised...we promised." Luke repeated tiredly as his eyes closed again and he slumped against Obi-Wan's chest.

Obi-Wan looked around curiously. Ani? That was what Padme called Anakin, it was the nickname his mother had given him. Looking down at the dead krayt dragon Obi-Wan considered what he knew of the Force. He didn't doubt that Luke had done something extraordinary. He looked down at the sleeping boy he'd come to consider his own. Had Anakin's spirit somehow manifested itself to keep his son safe? It was a question he'd have to ask Qui-Gon. Obi-Wan certainly didn't have the answers.

* * *

><p>AN: So for those that are new to my stories and don't know this already, I am in the military and thusly I only update when I have the chance. Sorry for the erratic schedule and thank you for your patience. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, thank you once again for reading.<p>

AN: For those that are enjoying this story, understand that this is largely a therapy writing for me (though I am obviously sharing it) and I have no real idea of where it will go or what plotlines will develop if any. As of now it is largely episodic as I work through the years preceding the Battle of Yavin. If you have any ideas for scenes, either from canon, AU, or your own mind, feel free to share them in a message or a review. I will consider anything so long as it remains true to the tone of the story.


	7. Chapter 6

Luke looked out the speeder's window sullenly as the sand dunes raced by.

"Cheer up." Leia said, nudging his arm. "We don't get to go into town all that often!"

Luke heaved a dramatic sigh and scooted away from his twin quietly, not saying anything. He could feel the hurt she felt at the snub but...well...his mind was elsewhere.

"You aren't still upset about Biggs leaving for the Academy are you?" his father inquired.

Luke heaved a long sigh. He didn't want to be reminded of his best friend. He just didn't. He felt alone in the world, even his twin was no real comfort to him right now. His entire world had ended in one day when Biggs had boarded the Imperial transport and left planet.

"Dad?"

"What is it Luke?"

"C—can I join the academy too?"

"Absolutely not." his father said unequivocolly.

"But why?" Luke pleaded. "Most of my friends are already gone or joining!"

"Most of your friends aren't Jedi"." replied his father. "The Empire kills Jedi Luke."

"Maybe I don't want to be a Jedi." Luke said, instantly regretting the words though it was far too late to take them back.

There was a muted silence in the speeder as they continued over the sand towards Anchorhead. Finally, Luke's father spoke in a clear, calm voice that seemed to cut through the tense air like the lightsabers Luke and Leia practiced with.

"And what happens when they find that you can use the Force? How long would it take them to come back and find your sister? To find me? Your sister they might spare, but me? They would kill me without hesitation."

Luke flinched slightly, his father and mother had steadily been teaching him and his sister about the history of the Republic that had existed before the Empire and though he envied his friends, particularly Biggs, their appointments to the academy there was just something...rotten about the things his parents had told him. The Empire was cruel...even at fifteen Luke understood that...had seen it firsthand in how its Stormtroopers treated the people of Tatooine...but still...

"Luke," his sister said gently, smiling at him. "I love you."

And just like that, the budding argument ended. They spent the rest of the trip in silence until they were well within Anchorhead. The speeder stopped in front of a small shop and as it settled, Luke hopped out with Leia.

"What're we doing here?" Luke asked, looking around.

His father shrugged. "I thought something special for a fifteen year old might be in order. So here we are."

Luke and Leia exchanged confused glances but followed him into the shop nevertheless. Inside were all sorts of odds and ends...it was evidently a junk shop. One that neither teen had visited before either. Luke began wandering through the stalls and bins, examining the odds and ends scattered around the store. It was quite the treasure trove. He found one bin with an odd collection of weapons in it and took out an old slugthrower rifle.

It was ridiculously long, very nearly as tall as Luke was but it reminded him of the rifle that his Uncle Owen had on his moisture farm. He'd even taught Luke how to shoot it as a matter of fact! As he held the rifle appraisingly, Leia joined him and began rummaging through the bin for herself. A moment later she produced a small sporting blaster which she hefted gingerly.

"You can't use that." Luke declared.

She smirked at him. "Mother's been letting me use her pistol."

"What!? No fair!" Luke exclaimed. "She won't let me even hold it!"

"That's because you might shoot somebody." Leia teased with a smirk. "She trusts me."

"Dad! Can I get this?"

Their father looked up from the counter where he'd been discussing with the clerk.

"A slugthrower?" he said dubiously, looking to Leia's choice. "And a sporting blaster?"

They both looked at him hopefully and after a moment he nodded, relenting. "Oh very well. It is your birthday after all."

Both twins smiled and went to the counter where their father paid for both items and something else in hard credits. The twins wondered what else their father had purchased but he wouldn't answer their inquiries and so a few moments later they walked outside again.

Luke's eye was caught by a landspeeder sitting besides the family speeder.

"Wow, that's an XP-34."

"You like it?" his father inquired.

Luke nodded.

"What about you Leia?"

"Well...it's certainly nice." Leia replied with a shrug, more interested in the holstered pistol now resting at her hip.

Their father laughed. "I try to do something nice for the pair of you and you're more interested in guns you pick out for yourselves."

They looked at him in bewilderment and he smiled, kneeling down to look up at both of them.

"That speeder is for the pair of you to use whenever you need it."

Their eyes widened and they looked at one another in shock.

"Are you serious dad?" Luke asked.

He nodded.

"Luke's going to wreck it." Leia admonished.

"Hey, I've never crashed my T-16!" Luke replied defensively.

Their father snorted, standing up and patting them both on the head. "Tell you what, drive it home for me and we'll worry about it then."

Leia looked at the speeder for a moment before turning to Luke. "You're driving."

"I thought I was supposed to crash it." Luke said mockingly.

"Shut up and drive." she replied. "You're the pilot."

* * *

><p>Obi-Wan watched as the pair powered up their new speeder and after a moment of looking over the controls, Luke accelerated away through Anchorhead. With a shake of his head he accelerated his own speeder and followed after the pair. He didn't think that Luke would crash it honestly, nor did he think that Leia would use it much either. For one thing, she and Luke had all the same friends. For another, if she wanted to go somewhere—Obi-Wan's smile widened—she'd twist her brother's arm until he did what she wanted him to. He'd seen her do it.<p>

His mind turned to darker matters though. The Empire's reach was expanding, even here on Tatooine, more Imperial Army and Stormtroopers were present. Moff Brance had left the Hutts alone for the most part, but the question was no who was really in charge of the planet. It was hard to say in all honesty. Still...Luke wanted to join the Imperial Academy with his friends. Obi-Wan couldn't say he blamed him. He knew that at least two of Luke and Leia's good friends were either joining or had joined in the last year or coming year. Luke knew what he was though, and had to know that it was impossible for him to join safely.

Even if he was able to hide what he was from the Empire, if they realized he was Force sensitive...who knew what Vader and Palpatine would do with him...and once they had him...would the rest of their family be safe? Obi-Wan did not doubt his son's courage, he just didn't think it enough to stand up to Vader and Palpatine both. He paused for a moment.

His. Son.

It had become so natural, so easy, to think of them as his. They were his as far as he was concerned. If Vader ever wanted them...well he'd hopefully never have to deal with that but...Obi-Wan loved Padme and _their _children dearly. Nothing would take them from him. Not even their fallen father.

* * *

><p>Padme smiled as Obi-Wan came into the kitchen. "Threepio, can you finish up in here?"<p>

"Of course Mistress Leda." the golden droid said cheerfully. "I'd be delightighed."

She turned and walked up to him, pressing her lips to his lovingly.

"Welcome home." she said with a wry smile. "Couldn't catch them could you?"

Obi-Wan smile wanely. "No, they took off the moment they were in it."

Her smile radiated warmth. "I told you." she noticed a flicker in his expression and brushed his cheek. "What's the matter?"

"Luke's talking about joining the Academy."

Padme's heart sank and she pulled away from Obi-Wan, crossing her arms over her chest and closing her eyes against the sudden rush of fear and pain that washed through her.

"Still?"

Obi-Wan came up behind her and wrapped her in his arms. She twisted in his grasp and buried her face in his chest.

"I think it's partially trying to be like his father—his real father—and the fact that his friends are all joining."

"You are his real father." Padme said tearfully. "Anakin died in the war. He knows that."

"I know." Obi-Wan said gently. "I think it's more that his friends are enlisting than anything else. He feels left out."

"He can't." she said flatly.

Obi-Wan nodded. "No, he can't. Not with what I've taught him." he kissed the top of Padme's head. "Not with you and Leia here."

Padme closed her eyes and leaned in closer to her husband, feeling his breathing and the beating of his heart.

"I love you."

She felt him shift and for a moment wondered if she'd said the wrong thing.

"Threepio, have Artoo come get us when dinner is ready."

"Of course Master Ben."

Padme barely had a chance to ask before Obi-Wan scooped her up in his arms and carried her to their bedroom. By the time Artoo came to fetch them, any lingering doubt had been washed away.


	8. Chapter 7

"Okay, if you're here then Luke has to be around somewhere."

Leia stood back from the stall and turned at the familiar voice. It couldn't be.

"Biggs?" she asked in disbelief.

He smiled at her. "Hey Leia."

"What are you doing here?" she asked in surprise. "I thought you were at the Academy."

"I was until a week ago. I'm on furlough." Biggs looked at her with a flirty smile. "You grew up."

Leia raised a brow. "Don't push your luck flyboy. Come on, Luke will want to see you. He's been sulking for the last few years ever since you left!"

Biggs laughed. "Not even going to give me a chance to land?"

"Not a chance." she replied wryly.

* * *

><p>Luke felt Leia coming closer to him, and felt her mirth. He didn't take any real note of it though, more concerned with the repulse engine on his speeder. The repulsor field had been pretty finicky and he wanted to make sure it was working properly before they headed home again.<p>

Someone kicked his boot then and Luke jumped.

"Leia!"

"She's out here too." replied a familiar voice. "But she's not the one kicking you."

Luke scrambled out from under the speeder in mounting disbelief.

"Biggs!" he shouted, throwing himself around his friend's shoulders.

"Hey Luke." Biggs greeted him, patting him on the shoulder warmly. "Glad to see me?"

Luke stepped back and nodded, grinning widely. "You bet! How was the Academy?"

Biggs' face darkened slightly and Luke glanced at Leia who had also noticed his change in mood.

Biggs turned to Leia. "Can we have a moment?"

She nodded, looking to Luke with a knowing glance before heading back to her shopping.

"What's the matter?" Luke asked.

Biggs sighed heavily. "I'm done with the Empire."

Luke blinked. "What?"

"It's just...it's not what I'd hoped it would be...and there's more...so much more but...yeah I'm going to defect."

"But you can't!" Luke said. "You worked so hard to get to the Academy, why throw that away?"

"Because there is something better out there." Biggs said simply.

"I know the Empire isn't perfect, believe me my parents won't let me forget it!" Luke said. "But I don't understand why this sudden change."

"You know about the Republic?"

"Of course, everyone does."

"Did you know there was a group out there trying to restore it?"

"There is?"

Biggs smiled. "They call themselves 'The Alliance to Restore the Republic' or the 'Rebel Alliance'. The Empire just calls them rebels or terrorists...but I think they're on the right side of things."

"I'd heard about the Rebellion...but I didn't think they really were anything more than a bunch of angry farmers and miners."

Biggs laughed. "Yeah, that's what the Empire likes to say. A bunch of disgruntled civilians...but honestly Luke, there are entire systems who are dedicated to their cause. Politicians, military members, people like you and me...it has a large support base...even if it isn't very powerful yet."

"You're serious about joining?"

"I think so...I want to see my father first...but some friends of mine...we're already making plans after we get to our first command." Biggs eyes narrowed and he looked at Luke severely. "You can't tell anyone about this, not even Leia."

Luke nodded. "No one, I promise."

"Alright, well that's about it I guess." Biggs smiled. "You and Leia expected home yet?"

"Not yet, dad said today is a day off, so long as we bring back what he and mom need."

Biggs grinned. "Okay then, you and Leia are mine for the rest of the day."

Luke opened his mouth but Biggs held up a hand.

"No arguing. I'm not going to see you again for who knows how long, I'm not wasting the chance to have some fun!"

* * *

><p>Obi-Wan looked down at his chrono. Where were those two? He'd said they needed to be back for dinner and it was already well past dark. They weren't answering their comlinks either. He sighed. They'd probably met a friend in town and decided to go off and do who knew what. It wouldn't be the first time they'd stayed out late with friends. Still, usually they called first before running off.<p>

"You're worrying too much." Padme said as she joined him.

"There are times." he remarked idly. "That I wonder if you're a Jedi as well."

She chuckled, leaning against him lovingly. "I just know my husband."

Obi-Wan smiled, the years had not been gentle to him. His hair was entirely gray now, his features had grown harder. He didn't look the fifty-six years he was, he looked older. Padme by contrast at forty-five was still quite beautiful. He sighed and pressed his lips to her head. She looked up at him and nudged him playfully.

"Stop that."

"Stop what?"

"You're not that old yet Ben." she chastised.

He laughed, she really could read his mind.

"Look, here they come." Padme said.

He looked and indeed the twins' speeder was approaching the moisture farm. As they pulled up he put on his best stern father face.

"And where have you bee—" he stopped when his eyes fell upon the familiar face with the twins. "Biggs," what was he doing here? "welcome home."

"Thanks Mister Jinn." he nodded to Padme. "Missus Jinn."

"Well this is a surprise." Padme remarked. "I'll tell Threepio to set another place."

* * *

><p>Leia watched her parents carefully throughout the dinner with Biggs. They were both tense as Biggs described his experiences at the Imperial Academy but remained polite. They kept looking towards Luke who was completely wrapped up in his friend's experiences. She understood their concern all too well. She'd tried very hard to keep Luke's mind from the Academy. Unlike her star struck brother, she understood her parents' very real concern for his safety should he join the Empire. They were Jedi, she and Luke both had lightsabers that their father had made for them when they were children and he had shown them not only his own saber but the saber their biological father had carried before he'd died.<p>

That wasn't to say that Biggs' presence wasn't welcome. She liked him. He was handsome, charming, and always talkative. He knew how to make people laugh and smile. It was no big surprise when her parents asked him to spend the night rather than let him travel across the Dune Sea at night. The Sand People always became more active at night. As she lay down in bed, she let her mind drift towards Luke's and listened in on her brother as he and Biggs spoke of the galaxy and the Rebel Alliance that Biggs wanted kept secret.


	9. Chapter 8

The _Tantive IV _bucked violently as another barrage of turbolaser fire from the pursuing Star Destroyer rocked the tiny corvette. Jan Ors did her best to maintain her footing as she made her way to the _Tantive_'s bridge where Captain Antilles stood grimly.

"Captain?"

He turned to her, his expression set. "Agent. I think they've got us this time."

Jan nodded. "How bad is it?"

"That last hit took out our main reactor. We're running on auxiliary power."

"How long can your men hold them when they board us?"

Captain Antilles' eyes narrowed. "As long as we can."

Jan moved past him and tapped the console, ejecting the datachip from its storage slot. Captain Antilles put his hand on hers and she turned to glare at him.

"They can't recover these plans, the Alliance needs them desperately." she stated flatly.

"You can't escape." he said forlornly. "You might be able to hide them and recover them later."

She shook her head. "No. I swore to Senator Organa and Mon Mothma that I'd bring these plans to them personally. I am not letting them out of my sight."

The Captain sighed, but was forestalled in further argument as the ship rocked violently. He looked at the bridge crew around them.

"Report."

"Tractor beam sir, we're being drawn in!"

"All hands rig for repel boarders, make sure everyone has a blaster." he looked back to Jan. "Agent, get off my ship."

She nodded to him grimly. "Yes sir. Good luck Captain."

* * *

><p>"I'm telling you there's a firefight going on up there." Luke insisted, handing Leia the binocs.<p>

She looked up at the stars searchingly for a moment before shrugging. "I see a Star Destroyer, but that's it."

Her brother yanked the binocs back from her and looked through them again. "It's over...I guess they—HEY!"

"What now?" Leia asked in exasperation.

"There's an escape pod! Or at least I think it's an escape pod!"

Leia looked up again and frowned. "An escape pod?"

"Yeah, it just shot out from beneath the Star Destroyer, look!"

Leia followed Luke's pointing hand and saw the entry trail as the pod hit Tatooine's atmosphere.

"I wonder what's going on." she murmured as the pod came down against the horizon.

"It landed pretty close." Luke said. "Let's go check it out."

"No way." Leia said. "We can't go out there in the middle of the night and you know it!"

"Come on Leia, don't you want to know what it is?"

Leia glared at her brother. "We came out here to shoot womp rats, not retrieve broken escape pods. We're not Jawas."

"But what if they need help?" Luke pressed, his eyes glowing eagerly.

Leia sighed, throwing her hands up in the air. "Fine! Fine, let's go. Just make sure you have slugs for that piece of junk." she said indicating his slugthrower.

"Hey it's not a piece of junk! I can hit a target further than you can!"

"Yeah, but I don't have to reload after each shot." Leia replied smugly. "Hurry up." she chided as she climbed into the speeder's compartment and started the engine. "The sooner we get there the sooner we can go home."

"Hey I'm coming! Wait Leia!"

* * *

><p>Jan was shivering as she woke from the cold sleep she'd induced in herself. It hadn't been the best idea she admitted but honestly she hadn't had much choice. With her vitals reduced to near zero she'd been able to make her escape look like a malfunctioning escape pod...hopefully. She popped the hatch on the pod and looked up at the night sky. There, right there, that was the Star Destroyer. She wondered how Captain Antilles was faring. She didn't want to admit to herself that his chances were slim...she shook her head. No time for that, she had to find her targets, space knew how she was going to manage that. She gathered her kit together and climbed out of the pod, surveying the rocky surroundings before examining her datapad.<p>

She was near the Dune Sea...nearest major settlement was a place called Anchorhead...it was going to be one hell of a trek, and through a desert! She stopped then and listened. A speeder? Had someone seen her landing? Crap. She climbed up the rock face hurriedly as the speeder engine died and sequestered herself in a spot that gave her a clear view of the pod. She reached down and touched her pants pocket where the datachip holding the plans rested. Good, they were still there.

"Here it is." a girl's voice said. "Happy now?"

"Come on, let's take a look!" a boy replied.

Great, farm kids come to take gawk, just what she needed...or perhaps it really was. Could they give her a ride into town?

* * *

><p>"It's empty." Luke said as he looked inside the pod.<p>

"No sand to show any tracks either. Whoever they were, they're gone now." Leia added. "They can't be that badly injured if they were able to move that fast."

"Yeah, but there's no where for them to go." Luke replied worriedly. "I mean where are they going to go? Anchorhead is too far to walk."

"If they have enough water they could do it." Leia said offhandedly.

"Out in the Dune Sea? No way in space could they walk across it like that."

The Sand People do." Leia pointed out.

Luke frowned and then stopped, something was tingling at the edge of his mind.

"Leia?"

"I feel it." she replied, her hand dropping down to her pistol.

They turned as one and raised their weapons to find a woman standing above them, her hands raised.

"Hi." she said simply.

"Were you in the pod?" Luke asked, lowering his rifle, though Leia's pistol remained trained on the woman.

"Yeah, that'd be me." she replied with a nervous smile as she descended from her hiding spot.

"Careful." Leia cautioned, her blaster trained on the stranger. "Who are you?"

"I'm Jan Ors, my ship was attacked and I'm here looking for someone. Do you know an Obi-Wan Kenobi?"

Luke frowned and looked at his sister. "Leia?"

She shook her head. "No one around here has that name."

The woman—Jan—frowned. "Damn, I hope he's still alive. I need to find him."

"Why?" Luke asked.

Jan hesitated for a moment before shrugging. "He's important."

Both twins stared at her for a long moment before Leia lowered her blaster.

"You won't find him tonight and we need to get home. You can talk to our parents, they might be able to tell you more."

Luke followed Leia's lead as they walked back up the escarpment.

"Are you sure we should bring her home?" he whispered.

"You wanted to investigate the pod." Leia snapped back at him. "We can't just leave her out here...besides she's carrying a blaster, she could've come up pointing it at us but she didn't, I think we can trust her."

Luke nodded. "Alright."

"I didn't get your names." Jan said as she climbed into the speeder with them.

"I'm Luke." he provided. "And this is my sister Leia."

The woman stopped, her eyes narrowing. "And you're certain you don't know a man named Obi-Wan Kenobi?"

They looked at one another, why was she so suspicious suddenly?

* * *

><p>Obi-Wan sensed the twins before they reached the house, he also sensed their unease and had opted to wear his saber when greeting them. As they pulled up he saw the reason for their discomfort. The third person in the speeder was a complete stranger. Obi-Wan reached out to touch her in the Force and found no open hostility, just a good deal of distrust and suspicion. He supposed that was normal and made perfect sense given the circumstances. The speeder pulled to a stop and he waited as the twins and their guest debarked.<p>

"And where have you two been?" he asked sedately as he looked at the pair.

"There was an escape pod." Luke said with a glance at the woman standing behind him.

"Luke wanted to check it out." Leia continued. "She was in it."

Obi-Wan nodded. "I see, go inside, your mother is waiting for you."

He waited for the pair to get inside before addressing his unexpected guest.

"You're not Imperial."

"And you're not a moisture farmer." the woman replied. "Those are Amidala's kids aren't they."

His eyes narrowed. "Only a few people could have known that." his hand tensed, ready to call his saber to his palm. "Who are you?"

"Agent Jan Ors of the Justice Action Network allied with the Alliance to Restore the Republic...and you're Jedi Master and General Obi-Wan Kenobi, formerly of the Republic Grant Army and Jedi Order. I was sent here to find you."

Obi-Wan looked at her for a long time in silence before finally speaking. "Who sent you?"

"Mon Mothma and Bail Organa. They need your help."

"They're the leaders of the Rebel Alliance I take it?"

"You know of it all the way out here?"

"I've heard rumors." he replied. "You do realize that I'm not the man I used to be I trust."

"You still have your mind, Mothma and Organa say we need that more than anything."

Obi-Wan took a deep, steadying breath. "Why the escape pod?"

"My ship was captured, I had to get off, I'm carrying information vital to the Alliance."

"I see...you know I'm not exactly thrilled to see you here Agent."

"I'm sorry General, but you are needed."

Obi-Wan sighed. General? It had been nearly twenty years since anyone had called him that. He supposed the time had come to get back into the thick of things. Padme was going to kill him...if Vader didn't first. Once the Dark Lord of the Sith realized that Obi-Wan was very much alive...he pitied anyone that got in his way.

"Come inside, we're about to have dinner. We can discuss this more then."

* * *

><p>Padme looked at their unwelcome guest as she described her mission. The twins of course were interested in what she had to say but Padme wished that Jan Ors hadn't survived her landing. Padme kept casting glances towards Obi-Wan and saw the resignation on his features. He was going to accept her request. She could see it in his eyes. She wanted to yell at him. To tell him to forget all of this and just be Ben Jinn for the sake of her and the twins but...no, this was going to happen. They were about to be catapulted back onto the galactic stage...Padme Amidala was about to come back from the dead. That thought terrified her.<p>

After dinner was over, the twins were sent away to bed much to their annoyance, not that Padme expected either of them to actually sleep at all but she wanted to speak with Agent Ors without their constant—if understandable—questioning.

"Why now?" she asked simply after the table had been cleared.

Jan shrugged. "I don't know. Mothma and Organa simply said that the Empire's growing threat required General Kenobi's presence...and Organa told me that you were still alive as well Senator, with your children." she glanced to Obi-Wan. "That was what gave me the hint about who their father was when they mentioned their names."

He nodded. "What are you carrying that is important enough for you to jettison yourself into the Jundland Wastes?"

"Plans for a new superweapon the Empire is building." she said simply. "I don't know much more than that."

Padme sighed, looking to Obi-Wan. "When will you leave?"

"I can't take the skiff, it hasn't flown in years."

"You can't repair it?" Jan asked hopefully.

"I'd need to buy the parts, and people would notice that." Obi-Wan replied. "No, I think we need to go to Mos Eisley and find transport there...it should be less noticeable."

Padme looked around at the place she'd called home for the past years. All the memories. The love and warmth it had provided to her. She took a deep, calming breath and looked back to Agent Jan Ors as she stood.

"I'll have the droids pack what we'll need."

"Padme."

Obi-Wan's voice stopped her in her tracks and she turned to him, she saw the pain in his expression. He didn't want this anymore than she did.

"I know." she said simply before turning to leave.

* * *

><p>Jan watched the Senator leave the room before looking back towards the General.<p>

"I feel like I owe you an apology."

He shook his head. "No, we both knew this was going to happen eventually." he stood and crossed the room to a small locked cupboard. "We just hoped that it never would." he knelt and unlocked the cupboard and took out three cylinders.

"Are those what I think they are?"

He nodded. "One of them is Anakin Skywalker's, the other two I built for the children from the saber of an old enemy."

"Do they know how to use them?" Jan couldn't keep the excitement from her voice.

He turned to look at her with bitter amusement. "I've been training them for a decade, they're probably as close to Jedi as you'll find these days...granted they need more training...much more."

Jan felt a thrill of excitement. She'd been sent to retrieve a Jedi General. Now it sounded as if she was going to be returning to the Alliance with his two apprentices to boot!


	10. Chapter 9

Huff finished counting out the credits, tallying the final amount up and transfering it all into Obi-Wan's account. The moisture farmer eyed Obi-Wan for a long, hard moment befor finalizing the transaction and sliding the datapad over the table and leaning forwards.

"Now look here Ben." he said sternly. "I've always liked you and Leda. The kids too, they've been good friends to my boy, bless their hearts, but I know a rat when I smell one and this stinks. You've sold me all your land, that beautiful ship of yours, and...well _everything._" his eyes narrowed. "You're up to something."

Obi-Wan looked at the farmer and shrugged. "Things change."

Huff snorted. "You're a terrible liar Ben."

If only he knew. Obi-Wan mused to himself, maintaining his guise as a moisture farmer. The silence that followed dragged on for several moments before Huff leaned back and threw up his hands.

"Bah! Keep your blasted secrets then!" his eyes fixed Obi-Wan harshly. "But mark my words Ben Jinn, if anything happens to those kids because of some fool thing you're doing there will be hell to pay."

Obi-Wan smiled wanely as he stood up and took his leave.

"Believe me Huff, I know." oh how he knew.

* * *

><p>Padme waited in the speeder as Obi-Wan came out of the Darklighter estate.<p>

"How did it go?" she asked as he sat in the passenger seat besides her and rested back in the worn cushions.

"He suspects that we're up to something." Obi-Wan remarked with a hint of mirth.

Padme shook her head. "He has no idea...Obi-Wan, it's not too late to simply disappear again."

Obi-Wan reached over and put his hand atop hers on the steering column. Despite his weathered features, she could still feel the strength in his hands. The same hands that had held her tenderly these last years as they'd raised their family together.

"You know we can't do that...you know that isn't what you want either."

Padme glared at him. "I want my children to be safe, I want to know that I'm not about to lose another husband!" she started the engine and drove off into the desert, her voice a whsiper. "I want to know that everything is going to be alright."

Obi-Wan sat up and leaned over, kissing her on the cheek. "You know as well as I do that no one can promise that."

She nodded tightly, her grip holding the steering column in a vice. Yes, she knew, that didn't mean she couldn't wish for it.

* * *

><p>Jan moved about the house as the two droids and the twins packed everything. She did her best to help but in all honesty this wasn't her home. She didn't know what was needed.<p>

"Oh dear oh dear." fretted C-3PO. "I can't believe we'll be leaving! I've always said how much I hated all the sand here but...well this is home after all!" R2-D2 blatted at him rudely and the golden droid threw his arms up indignantly. "Don't patronize me you malfunctioning scrap pile! I know the master and mistress want this but I can at least have a moment of nostalgia!" the astromech warbled and the protocal droid huffed. "I'm merely saying how much I will miss the familiarity of this place! Honestly you take everything so literally!"

Jan tuned the droids out and turned to look at the children curiously. They both wore their sabers now. Their father, the General, had given them both their blades the night before. Jan had never seen a Jedi, but the ease with which the children wore their weapons made her feel as if they were just that, even if their father said otherwise. What would Mon Mothma and Bail Organa say when she brought back a Jedi General and his Jedi son and daughter? No matter how much more training they required, they were going to be a great asset to the Rebellion for morale purposes alone.

She touched the pocket where the Imperial plans rested. She had to make sure that along with the General, Senator, and their children these plans got back to the Rebellion as well. She wondered which ultimately mattered more, the people or the plans? She'd been told that both were indispensable to the Rebellion but...when it came down to it, which was worth laying her life on the line for?

* * *

><p>Leia went about the business of packing methodically and quietly alongside her brother. However she couldn't help but notice their pensive guest as she tried to help them pack to little real effect. She couldn't say that she didn't like Jan Ors, she had after all done nothing to warrant any animosity...well, short of turning their entire life upside down! She'd always known that her parents were hiding something but to learn that...well...their father was a Jedi, she'd always known that and had known that he'd served as a General during the war alongside her biological father who had died near the end of the war. He'd then gone on to marry Leia and Luke's mother and therein lay the real surprise.<p>

Her mother wasn't Leda Jinn anymore than their father was Ben Jinn. But instead Padme Amidala and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Leia wondered what that meant about herself and Luke. Were they still Jinns if neither of their parents were? And what was going ot happen once they met this Alliance?

"Skywalker." she murmured to herself, testing her biological father's name.

"Are you okay Leia?" Luke asked as he brought out the last of their things from their rooms.

"Just trying out our real name." Leia replied. "What do you think? Do I look like a Skywalker?"

Luke smiled. "I think you look like my sister."

Leia snorted. "Bantha brain."

Her brother laughed. "Maybe, but does it really matter what our real name is? We're all still a family, mom and dad are still mom and dad."

She nodded in agreement. "I'm not worried about that. I know who they are, and that they love us no matter what...I just wonder what else is going to change."

Luke reached down and tapped his lightsaber. "A lot I think, we're Jedi in a galaxy without them. It's going to be...different."

Leia laughed. That had to be the biggest understatement ever.

* * *

><p>Luke keyed in the power to his speeder, ahead of him his parents were already accelerating away from the moisture farm. Luke picked up speed and followed after them. Besides him, Leia sat looking out at the farm thoughtfully. Luke wasn't going to lie. He wasn't going to miss home at all. He'd wanted an adventure, to get away from everything he knew and here was his chance! He'd get to see the galaxy and perhaps even reunite with Biggs once again...his only worry was that he might meet other friends on the wrong side of the war he was stepping into...friends who were still serving with the Empire.<p>

He hoped that whatever Biggs had done, that it had worked and he was with the Alliance now.

"Wait for me Biggs, I'm coming." he murmured.

"What was that?" Leia asked from the passenger seat.

"Nothing." Luke said. "I was just thinking out loud."

She nodded, but Luke could sense that she didn't really believe him.

* * *

><p>Their party stood overlooking the urban sprawl that rose out of the desert sands below them.<p>

"The Mos Eisley space port," Obi-Wan said thoughtfully. "You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy."

Agent Ors snorted slightly. "No offense General, but you've been out of the loop a little too long if you think this is worse than the Empire."

Obi-Wan sighed heavily and looked over at Padme for a moment before turning back to their speeders.

"We must be cautious."

The ride into the city was uneventful, though Obi-Wan sensed Padme's growing unease as they went deeper and deeper into the desert metropolis. Obi-Wan was ill at ease as well. The closer they came to the spaceport the more Imperial troops he saw, and not just the usual Imperial Army troopers from the Bestine garrison, no, these were Stormtroopers. He swallowed as memories surfaced from two decades prior.

Padme reached across the compartment and touched his arm.

"Don't worry, they have no idea who we are."

"Yet." Obi-Wan replied with a nervous smile.

They pulled up in front of a cantina and parked their speeders.

Luke frowned as he, Leia and the droids came to join their parents and the Rebel agent.

"You sure we'll find a pilot here that'll take us to Alderaan?"

Obi-Wan smiled wanely. "Oh most of the best pilots can be found here, just watch your step, this place can get a little rough."

"And what would you know about that Obi-Wan?" Padme asked him with a suspicious glance.

He smiled innocently at her, feeling as though a weight was off his shoulders. They could use their own names openly once more. After all, what was the point in hiding their identities now that they were going to join the rebellion against the Empire?

As they walked into the dimly lit cantina, the scanner by the door chirped noisily.

"Hey!"

Obi-wan glanced towards the bar.

"We don't serve their kind here."

"Excuse me?" Luke asked in confusion.

"Your droids, they'll have to wait outside."

"We'll wait by the speeder's Master Ben." Threepio said.

Obi-Wan nodded, sighing slightly, wondering if he'd have to explain to Threepio yet again the nature of his name...did he really care that much he wondered? Perhaps not. It was after all, just a name.

"I'll wait with them." Padme said, turning to follow Threepio and Artoo out of the cantina. "This place is a bit too...foul for my tastes."

Obi-Wan nodded his understanding and walked with the twins and Agent Ors to the bar where he began examining the patrons appraisingly. There were plenty of individuals who might suit his purposes but he had to be careful who he addressed. The problem with dealing with this sort was that you had to find just the right mixture of mercenary and businessman, too much of one or the other and they might decide to sell you out. His eyes settled on a massive wookie. He got a good feeling from this one, perhaps...well it was always worth a try.

* * *

><p>Luke watched as his father walked over to a wookie and began talking to him quietly. He leaned over the bar and tugged at the barkeep's shirt.<p>

"I'll have one of those." Luke said, pointing to a synth ale.

The barkeep nodded and began to pour the drink. There was a subtle shift in the mood around them suddenly and he glanced at Leia, she felt it too.

Then two beings flanked them, one of them, an aqualish and a human. The former shoved Luke as the other smiled at Leia.

"Why not ditch blondie over there and come with us girlie?" the man asked.

"Blondie happens to be my brother." Leia replied acidically, pushing the slimey human away.

"You'd better watch who you push girlie, I've got the death sentence in twelve systems!"

"We'll be careful." Luke replied, glaring at the aqualish in annoyance.

"You'll be dead!" snarled the human as he made a grab for Leia.

Luke moved to help but was forestalled as Jan came up and put her blaster beneath the chin of the human.

"You want to think real carefully about what you're doing." she said calmly as she stared into his eyes.

"You just signed your death warrant bitch." snarled the human.

"These ones really aren't worth the trouble." Luke's father said, coming to join the conversation, his voice placid as he pushed aside Jan's blaster. He put a hand on the human's shoulder. "Come let me get you something."

The human snarled and twisted, shoving Jan out of the way as the aqualish shoved Luke aside and drew a blaster.

"No shooting! No shooting!" shrieked the barkeeper as he ducked behind the counter.

Luke didn't see what happened, he just heard the familiar hum of a lightsaber and then someone was screaming and the rest of the cantina was dead silent. As Leia helped him to his feet he looked down to see the aqualish's severed arm lying on the floor and his father standing in the radiance cast by his blue saber looking around at the other patrons of the cantina sternly. After a tense moment passed, the cantina's band began playing again and the former hustle and bustle resumed.

Luke's father disengaged his saber and came to join Luke and Leia, the wookie following at his heels.

"Are you alright?"

Luke nodded, feeling a little ashamed that he'd been so easily shoved aside.

"I'm fine."

His father nodded and indicated the wookie. "Chewbacca here is copilot on a ship that may suit us, he was about to take me to meet the captain."

* * *

><p>Jan followed General Kenobi and his children, along with the wookie, to a table near the back of the cantina. The man sitting there was lounging in his seat as if he didn't have a care in the world. Everything about him said smuggler or worse and Jan's hand dropped immediately to her blaster as the General and children took seats opposite the man and his copilot.<p>

"Han Solo, captain of the Millenium Falcon, Chewie says you're looking for a ship." the man said, leaning forwards.

"Yes indeed." the General said. "If it's a fast ship."

"Fast ship?" Solo said, sounding slightly offended. "You've never heard of the Millenium Falcon?"

"Should I have?" the General inquired.

"It's the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs." when the General seemed unimpressed, Solo continued. "I've outrun Imperial starships, I'm not talking about the local bulk cruisers I mean the big Corellian ships," he glanced at Jan. "She's fast enough for you old man. What's the cargo?"

"Only passengers," the General said simply. "Myself, my wife and children, our servant, two droids...and no questions asked."

Solo snorted and smiled. "What is it some kind of local trouble?"

"Let's just say we'd like to avoid any Imperial entanglements." the General responded.

"Well that's the real trick isn't it," Solo said, drawing himself up.

Jan knew what was going to come next and braced herself for the ludicrous price tag that would come attached with it.

"It's going to cost you something extra; ten thousand all in advance."

"Ten thousand!?" the General's son blurted out. "We could almost buy our own ship for that!"

"But who's gonna fly it kid, you?" Solo leered.

"You bet I could I'm not such a bad pilot myself!" he turned to his father. "We don't have to sit here and listen to thi—"

He went silent as the General waved him down and looked at Solo with a perfect sabaac face.

"We can pay you two thousand now, plus fifteen when we reach Alderaan."

"Seventeen huh?" Solo asked, his facade vanishing amidst his excitement.

The General nodded in silent reply and Solo's eyes lit up greedily.

"Alright, you got yourself a ship, we'll leave as soon as you're ready. Docking bay ninety-four."

"Ninety-four." the General repeated.

Solo glanced over Jan's shoulder then. "Looks like someone is beginning to take an interest in your handiwork."

Jan turned to see a squad of Stormtroopers speaking to the barkeep who pointed back towards them. She turned and looked to the General who was already on his feet and walking away with his children. She cast one last glance at Solo before following after them. They had a ship, but could they really trust this man?

* * *

><p>AN: and we get to meet the ever lovable Captain Solo finally. Sorry for the long delay, had other projects and work taking precedence. Going to try and finish this one up in the next few weeks so stay tuned for more.<p> 


	11. Chapter 10

"Seventeen thousand!" Han exclaimed after the Stormtroopers passed by their booth. "Those guys must really be desperate!" he stood up with Chewie. "Get to the ship and get her ready!"

His copilot headed out the door and Han turned around, only to find a blaster in his chest. The rodian holding the blaster buzzed in his face threateningly as he pushed Han back into the booth.

"Yes Greedo," Han said consolingly. "As a matter of fact I was about to go see your boss. Tell Jabba I've got the money."

The rodian took the seat opposite him and buzzed angrily.

"I don't have it with me, tell Jabba that—"

With another angry buzz, the rodian interrupted him and Han leaned back, picking at the wall behind him idly.

"Look even I get boarded sometimes, do you think I had a choice?"

The rodian waved his blaster dismissively as he spoke again. Han leaned forwards, his eyes narrowing.

"Over my dead body."

The rodian chuckled eagerly but was cut short as a blaster bolt hit him from beneath the table. The rodian bitched forwards, his hand twitching and firing off a shot of his own which missed Han by millimeters. Han sighed and stood up, walking over to the bar and putting a handful of credits on the countertop.

"Sorry about the mess." he said before heading out to follow Chewie.

* * *

><p>"You have more than enough credits to pay him." Jan said thoughtfully.<p>

The General smiled. "He doesn't know that, he needs the money. I don't know what for, but I sensed a desperation. He wasn't going to turn the offer down despite appearances."

They turned the corner, intending to rejoin the Senator and the droids but found themselves staring into the faceplates of a squad of Stormtroopers.

"You there, halt!" one of them called, approaching as the others held their weapons at the ready. "Let me see your identicards."

Jan froze, she didn't have an identicard on her, most of her gear had been aboard the _Tantive IV_.

The General merely smiled subtly and waved his hand, the body of the Stormtrooper sergeant blocking the action from his men as he intoned calmly.

"You don't need to see our identicards."

"I don't need to see your identicards."

Jan blinked. She'd heard about this trick but never seen it enacted before.

"We can go about our business."

"You an go about your business."

"Move along."

"Move along, move along." the sergeant finished, waving them onwards.

Jan swallowed nervously as they walked past the remaining troopers who gazed at them from their expressionless helmets. The children both seemed in awe of their father, Jan was just glad that it had worked! They turned the corner and found the Senator waiting patiently by their speeders.

She crossed her arms as they approached. "I can't leave you alone for a minute can I." she said with a faint smile.

The General shrugged apologetically. "It was unavoidable."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm sure it was. Success?"

"Yes, I've chartered a ship, I suggest we sell our speeders and make all haste to meet it."

* * *

><p>Jabba the Hutt barked angrily at the Millenium Falcon's access ramp as his mercenaries circled around the shabby looking light freighter.<p>

Han walked into the hangar and waited a moment while Jabba continued bellowing at his ship before speaking out.

"Right here Jabba, been waiting for you."

The hutt crimelord swung around and chuckled.

Han smiled smugly. "You didn't think I'd run did you?"

The hutt sighed and shook his massive head as Han came to speak with him. With a frown, Jabba asked the obvious.

"Look Jabba, you want to talk with me come see me yourself, don't send one of these twerps."

Jabba rolled his eyes in exasperation as they walked along the Falcon's perimeter. Han turned on the crimelord in annoyance.

"Hey, even I get boarded sometimes, do you think I had a choice? Now I've got a nice, easy charter. I'll pay you back, plus a little extra."

Jabba nodded thoughtfully.

"Seventeen Jabba, don't push it."

The hutt scowled but after a moment's consideration nodded, but not before snapping at Han threateningly as he walked towards the Falcon's ramp.

"Jabba, you're a wonderful human being."

The crimelord took a deep breath before barking out an order to his men. They followed him from the hangar as Chewie and Han went about prepping their ship.

* * *

><p>"What a piece of junk." Luke blurted out as they entered the hangar.<p>

Padme put on her best diplomatic face at her son's outburst. The ship was certainly...something. It looked badly rusted and very battered. This was their ship? They were certainly traveling in style.

"She'll make point-five past lightspeed." the ship's captain said as he stepped down the frieghter's ramp. "She may not look like much but she's got it where it counts kid, now we're a little rushed for time so if you can all get aboard we'll be on our way."

Padme looked the freighter captain over dubiously and decided that he was not to be trusted anymore than necessary, especially not with the way he kept glancing between Agent Ors and Leia. She glanced at Obi-Wan dubiously but held her tongue as they boarded the ship.

* * *

><p>Han watched his passengers board the <em>Falcon <em>with interest, especially in the case of the women. All three of them were something to look at, and the eldest was rather regal...too regal to be on Tatooine if he was any judge...the other two...well one was obviously the daughter and the other? She was no servant...not unless she was a bodyguard...but why would these people need a bodyguard?

His thoughts were interrupted however by a shout from the docking bay's entrance.

"There! Blast him!"

He turned to see a platoon of Stormtroopers charging into the hangar, their weapons primed and ready. Han's eyes widened and he drew his own blaster, firing off a quick shot that dropped the lead Stormtrooper as the rest opened fire.

"Chewie get us the hell outta here!" Han shouted as he fired wildly, scrambling up the _Falcon_'s ramp.

Chewie activated the YT-1300's defensive blaster which popped down and began returning the fire from the attacking Imperials.

Han rushed into the cockpit to find the old man and his son sitting in the secondary seats. He didn't say anything to them as he activated the _Falcon_'s repulsors and lifted off, accelerating rapidly as he banked high and headed towards space.

"Imperial warships closing in on us." he said to Chewie who grumbled an affirmative.

"Why don't you outrun them I thought you said this thing was fast!" the boy exclaimed.

"Watch your mouth kid, gotta give it time to charge the hyperdrive."

"Are you kidding at the rate they're gaining!?"

"Jumping through hyperspace isn't like dusting crops boy, without proper coordinates you might fly into a star or black hole and that'd end your trip real fast wouldn't it?"

"How long until you can make the jump to lightspeed?" the old man inquired calmly.

Han leaned back and checked the readings, leaning forwards and throwing the jump lever.

"Right now!"

And with that, the _Falcon _leapt to hyperspace, carrying its human cargo back into the galaxy that they had been hiding from for the last two decades.

* * *

><p>AN: pretty short chapter this time around, a lot of action, to quote Threepio: 'will this never end?'<p> 


	12. Chapter 11

Han walked smugly into the common area aboard the _Falcon_ where his passengers all sat.

"Well you can forget your trouble with those Imperial ships, told ya I could outrun 'em."

No one replied. The kids were waving their light sticks back and forth, deflecting bolts from a trio of remotes that hovered around them. Their parents were watching intently while the so called 'servant' lounged in a corner. The droids were playing at chess with Chewie.

"Don't everyone thank me at once." Han said sullenly, turning to the ship's console. "Anyways we should be at Alderaan soon."

An explosive outburst form Chewie drew his attention to the chessboard.

"He made a fair move," the golden protocal droid said indignantly. "Screaming about it won't change anything."

"Word to the wise," Han said with a smirk as he leaned towards them. "Not a good idea to upset a wookie."

"But sir, no one worries about upsetting a droid."

Han's smirk broadened, he loved this.

"That's because a droid won't rip your arms out of your socket when it loses."

Chewie leaned back with smug assurance as the protocal droid looked at him for a moment.

"I see your point sir, I suggest a new strategy Artoo, let the wookie win."

Han shook his head and turned back to the kids and their lightsabers just in time to see the boy get zapped by one of the remotes.

He snorted derisively. "Hokey religions and ancient weapons aren't a match for a good blaster at your side kid."

The boy disengaged the lightsaber and glared at him. "You don't believe in the Force do you."

Han sighed, it had been something of a shock to realize that he was transporting a family of Jedi. It wasn't a cargo he was too happy about. If he'd known about it before taking the charter, he'd have charged at least twenty-one thousand if not more for the extra trouble. He wasn't about to do that to them now though, he wasn't that much of a scum.

"Look kid, I've been from one end of this galaxy to the next, and I've never seen anything to make me believe there's some all powerful 'Force' that controls everything. All a bunch of simple tricks and nonsense."

* * *

><p>Jan watched as a smile played across the General's face. He stood up and picked up a blast helmet from the bulkhead.<p>

"I suggest you try again Luke, this time, let go your conscious self, and act on instinct."

Luke swallowed as his father put the helmet on over his head, he was obviously nervous, Jan wondered how many times he'd swung his saber blind before? She got her answer a moment later as his sister back away from him.

"With the blast shield down I can't even see." Luke protested. "How am I supposed to fight?"

"Your eyes can deceive you, don't trust them." the General said jovially.

Luke sighed and nodded, igniting his saber. Jan leaned forwards intently as one of the remotes circled him, its repulsors hissing menacingly as it flitted through the air. A moment later, it shot and zapped Luke's hand, soliciting a bark of laughter from the smuggler.

"Stretch out with your feelings." the General said patiently.

Luke took a deep breath and seemed to find some sort of center within himself. A moment later, the remote fired a flurry of bolts, and Luke deflected all three of them easily.

"Good, you see? You can do it."

"I call it luck." sneered the smuggler.

"In my experiene," the General replied. "There is no such thing as luck."

"Look, good against remotes is one thing, good against the living? That's something el—the hell?"

* * *

><p>Padme's eyes widened as Obi-Wan clutched at his chest suddenly. She was there in an instant, supporting him worriedly.<p>

"Are you alright?"

He shook his head, indicating the bench they'd been sitting on.

"What happened?" Luke asked, coming to his parents' side with Leia.

"I felt a disturbance in the Force...as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror...and were silenced...I feel as if something awful has happened."

Padme frowned and put her hand over Obi-Wans, he smiled wanely and nodded at the twins.

"You'd best get back to your training."

As they did so, he turned to look at her.

"I am glad neither of them are yet sensitive enough to have felt that."

"What was it exactly?" Padme pressed.

Obi-Wan shook his head. "I do not know...I've never felt anything like it before...

"We're coming up on Alderaan." Captain Solo said, standing up and heading towards the cockpit.

Padme helped Obi-Wan stand as they and Jan all followed after Captain Solo's wookie co-pilot.

* * *

><p>Jan followed after the General and Senator, worry etched on her features. Had the General nearly had a heart attack? Or was this really something else? She supposed they'd know soon enough once they reached Alderaan. The Alliance should have the answers they needed. They entered the cockpit just as the ship left hyperspace and immediately they were buffeted by what appeared to be an asteroid field.<p>

"What the hell?" the smuggler snarled as he moved to dodge the space rocks.

"What's wrong?" Jan asked, leaning over his chair.

"There isn't supposed to be an asteroid field anywhere near Alderaan." he grumbled as they left the field behind them.

"Did you enter the right coordinates?" Jan pressed, glancing over at the General and Senator, the former had an odd expression on his face.

"Our position is right except—"

"Except what?"

"No Alderaan."

Jan scowled. "That's impossible, it has to be here."

"That's what I'm telling you girl, it ain't." he replied tersely.

Jan frowned. "What happened to it?"

"Destroyed." the General said succinctly. "By the Empire."

"That's impossible," the smuggler snapped. "I know the Empire's weapons systems, it would take an entire starfleet to destroy a planet and even then they wouldn't be able to obliterate it!"

But Jan didn't hear his words, a heavy weight was settling in her stomach as realization hit her.

"The weapon," she murmured, sinking into one of the seats. "They used it."

"Weapon?" the Senator asked. "What weapon?"

"The plans," Jan said, her voice void of emotion. "Are for a battlestation designed to destroy planets." her heart sank. "They tested it...on Alderaan."

Silence reigned in the cockpit then as each of them came to their own conclusions. Jan stood up shakily, fighting back the tears. Her parents...had been on Alderaan. She excused herself, pushing past the twins as they joined their parents...parents she would never get to see again.

* * *

><p>Padme frowned and stood. "I'm going to go talk to her."<p>

Obi-Wan nodded. "Yes, I hadn't realized she was from Alderaan."

"Would you have remained silent if you had?" Padme asked him.

Obi-Wan simply shrugged by way of answer as she left the cockpit.

"What happened?" Luke asked, looking out at the empty space ahead of them. "I thought we'd reached Alderaan."

"It's...gone...isn't it?" Leia asked.

Obi-Wan nodded, while Luke was proving very adept at the physical aspects of the Force, his mental aspect was lagging behind Leia who was proving superior in using her powers to sense thoughts and feelings from those around her. The pair would be a powerful combination working in concert...but Obi-Wan wished he could ensure that both were equally well rounded instead of strong in one point and weak in others, but that would require more training. Despite Padme's wishes to the contrary, Obi-Wan sometimes wished he had spent more of the twins' childhood training them instead of playing catchup now.

"Someone want to fill me in here?" Captain Solo grumbled. "What plans? What weapon?"

Before any explanation could come however, the _Falcon _rocked violently as a trio of starfighters roared past, strafing the freighter before accelerating away from her rapidly.

"They followed us!" Luke shouted in alarm at the sight of the Imperial TIEs.

"No, they're short range fighters." Obi-Wan said as the trio pulled away rapidly. "Best to let them go, they're too far out of range."

"Not for long!" Captain Solo snapped angrily as he accelerated.

"TIE fighters can't be out here by themselves..." Obi-Wan remarked thoughtfully, a frown creasing his brow.

"They must have gotten lost, been part of a convoy or something." Luke remarked as they watched the fighters ahead of them.

"Looks like they're heading for that small moon." Leia said, pointing to a growing grey sphere in the viewscreen.

Something felt wrong to Obi-Wan, very wrong. He stretched his mind out and felt thousands of minds ahead of them, his eyes widened.

"That's no moon, it's a space station." he said ominously.

"It's too big to be a space sta—" Captain Solo stopped mid word as he looked at the object as it came into focus. It was obviously artificial.

"Turn the ship around." Obi-Wan ordered.

"Yeah, I think you're right." Captain Solo said. "Chewie activate reverse thrusters."

The _Falcon _kicked violently, bucking and shaking wildly.

"Chewie full power to thrusters!" Captain Solo barked, his wookie copilot barked back at him angrily.

"Why are we still moving towards it!?" Luke shouted.

"We're caught in a tractor beam!" Captain Solo replied, his eyes racing across the control console.

"There's gotta be something you can do." Luke said tensely.

"Not unless you want the ship to fly apart at the seams, we're going to have to shut down. They're not going to get me without a fight."

Luke licked his lips as the massive station grew in size before them. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

Obi-Wan leaned in close to Captain Solo. "You can't win, but there are alternatives to fighting."

The smuggler turned to look at Obi-Wan. "I'm open to suggestions."


	13. Chapter 12

Han sat in silence beneath the deckplates of the _Falcon _as the Imperials tramped about above him. He could feel Chewie, and the supposed servant jostling around in the compartment with him and did his best to remain still himself lest some idle noise give them away. In another compartment the two droids were hidden away with the kids, while in a third their parents hid. It was all pretty ridiculous. He'd built these compartments for smuggling, but he'd never once had to hide himself inside of them! He listened as the familiar tramp of Imperial boots receded, memories of his own time in uniform came back to him. He waited for a moment after the sounds subsided and then hit the release latch for the compartment. With his blaster drawn, he raised the cover and looked around. Not an Imperial in sight.

Further down the passageway, two more compartments with the rest of his passengers opened up. He let out a breath. Looked like everyone was okay. Good. He couldn't get paid if they were captured or dead!

"It's a good thing you had these compartments." the boy said with great relief.

"I use them for smuggling," Han grumbled in annoyance. "Never thought I'd be smuggling myself in one of them!" he turned his ire on the old man. "This is ridiculous! Even if we could take off I'd never get past that tractor beam!"

"Leave that to me." he replied calmly as he clambered out of his compartment.

Han shook his head and lifted himself out of the compartment as Chewie helped the woman out. "Damned fool, I knew you'd say that."

"Who's the more foolish; the fool or the fool that follows?" the old man asked with a wane smile.

Han said nothing. They had to get disguises, and quickly, if they were going to move around the station unnoticed.

* * *

><p>Jan waited quietly by the ramp to the freighter's interior, across from her, the smuggler waited with his wookie friend. Both were silent and ready. Despite her mistrust of both of their motivations for all of this, she had the distinct feeling that both beings knew what they were doing and could be trusted to do what came next. The children she was not so sure about though neither of them seemed to have balked about the idea of killing the Imperials. The General and Senator both seemed resigned to all of this. She could deal with resignation. It was hesitance that killed. Her thoughts changed instantly as she heard the sound of footsteps on the ramp.<p>

_Here goes_. She thought to herself.

The Imperials came up with a container carried between them. Jan raised her blaster, waiting until the second Imperial had passed her. Then she struck, the butt of her blaster connecting with the man's skull and dropping him to the deck. At the same time, the smuggler struck the front man. Both of them dropped and the container dropped with a bang.

Jan froze as she heard a boot on the ramp below them, there were more, and they'd undoubtedly heard the sound of the brief struggle. Now what?

"Hey down there!" the smuggler called.

She looked at him in alarm. What was he doing?

He looked at her and winked. Space he was insufferable.

"Can you give us a hand with this?"

She tensed and nodded her understanding as the sound of the boots came up the ramp. Two of them, right. She switched her blaster to stun and waited. The first stormtrooper appeared and the smuggler tackled him. The second trooper opened fire but missed as the wookie clobbered him in turn. In a matter of seconds, both of them were unconscious.

"Now what?" the boy asked nervously.

Jan looked at the four unconscious Imperials and shrugged. "We play the part."

The General nodded. "Luke, Captain Solo, if you would get into the trooper armor. Leia and my wife can take the technician's uniforms."

* * *

><p>As Luke put the helmet on he heard a voice squawk in over his comlink.<p>

"TK-421, why aren't you at your post?"

He turned to his father. "They're calling the trooper."

His father nodded. "Quickly then, everyone up to the control room. Chewbacca, myself, and Agent Ors are prisoners remember. Once we're in position Luke, go out and pretend that your transmitter is broken."

Luke nodded, licking his lips nervously as the others left him behind.

"TK-421, report!" barked the voice again.

Taking a deep breath, Luke went down the freighter's ramp and looked around before he spied a black clad officer looking down at him from the control room. Nervously, he reached up and tapped the side of his helmet. The officer nodded and turned away from the window and Luke let out his breath again, hurrying forwards to join the others. As he was ascending the stairs he heard a roar and a burst of blasterfire. His heart raced in panic as he rushed up the stairs and into the passageway.

"We're fine." Leia said as she turned to greet her brother. "The Captain just shot them."

Luke followed her into the control room and glared at the smuggler captain as he pulled his helmet off and sealed the door behind him.

"Between his howling and you shooting everything in sight I'm surprised they haven't heard us yet!"

The smuggler turned to look at Luke incredulously as he removed his own helmet.

"Bring 'em on, I prefer a straight fight to all this sneaking around!"

* * *

><p>Obi-Wan ignored Luke and Captain Solo as they bickered, instead focusing on Artoo and Threepio as they examined the station's schematics.<p>

"We've found the power supply for the tractor beam sir." Threepio said as Artoo chirped excitedly.

Obi-Wan leaned in over Threepio's shoulder to examine the power junctions that fed the tractor beam as Threepio explained.

"The beam is powered through these junctions sir, a loss of power at one of these places will enable the ship to escape."

Obi-Wan nodded as he examined the positions of the various junctions. None of them were close but they weren't unreachable...it would require a good deal of stealth however, there was no denying that.

"I will take care of this." he said as he stood up and turned to the others. "You wait here until I return."

Padme's head jerked towards him and he saw the look of annoyance in her features. He was distracted slightly by the figure she cut in the Imperial tech's uniform, it fit her snugly...perhaps a little too snugly. He cleared his head and crossed to the sealed hatch.

"I want to go with you." Luke said, coming to join him.

"No Luke," Obi-Wan said gently. "I need you to stay here and protect your mother and sister," he shot a look at Agent Ors. "And the plans."

"Bu—" he started to protest.

"—they must be kept safe or more planets will suffer the same fate as Alderaan." Obi-Wan said, both seeing and feeling the way that Agent Ors tensed at those words. He looked at his son gently, smiling. "The Force will be with you, always."

"Wait a moment," Agent Ors said suddenly. "I'm going with you."

Obi-Wan scowled. "I believe I've already made it clear that I do not require—"

"With respect General, you and the Senator are also my mission, if you're going I'm going as well to make sure you don't get yourself killed."

"What about the plans?" Obi-Wan pressed. "You cannot risk those."

"I won't." she replied, turning to Artoo and holding out a data disc. "The droid can carry them more securely, and they won't be looking for them there either."

Padme shot Obi-Wan a look as the Agent inserted the disc into Artoo's feed system and came to join him. He met her gaze and nodded tightly, he didn't know what he could say to her what he felt that he must. They shared a quiet look for a moment before he turned and exited through the now open hatch with Agent Ors in tow before it sealed behind them with a whoosh.


	14. Chapter 13

Jan followed the General as he made his way through the station's numerous levels and corridors. She was no amateur when it came to infiltrating enemy facilities, after all, she had been part of the team that had acquired the Death Star's plans. However the General moved with a swift assuredness that neither she nor any other agent she knew of could have matched. From time to time he would pause and let a patrol or wandering droid pass them by before continuing on as if he were just another member of the vast station's crew. Jan didn't doubt for an instant that the veteran fighter was making full use of his Force abilities to move through the station's environs and though she did not fully understand his powers, she was grateful for them.

The ease with which they moved through the station gave her time to dwell on what had transpired. The Empire had used their doomsday weapon. Not only that, but they had used it on her homeworld, killing her parents and millions of other beings who were largely innocent. Space, Alderaan hadn't produced a single weapon since the end of the Clone Wars, having loaded all their weapons onto the surviving warships of the Alderaanian Defense Forces and sent them on automated courses to jump and eventually drift through space at random. Several of those ships had been found by the Alliance, their aged cargoes hulls and put them to new use.

The fact that many of Alderaan's citizens had joined the Alliance to Restore the Republic did nothing to negate the fact that most of the population were staunch pacifists and had been defenseless when the Empire came for them. It was a cowardly and heinous attack, one which would only serve to anger those that knew the truth...not that the Empire would admit to this. No, they would blame the Rebellion. What angered Jan most was that many would believe that the Alliance had committed the crime! She was glad that she could stay angry at those theoretical fools and the monsters feeding them their lies. Anger kept her focused, and prevented her from grieving.

"Here, I believe this is where we need to be."

The General's words snapped Jan out of her inner thoughts. She looked around at the engineering section they were in. A bridge went between two power conduits served by narrow walkways. It was obviously a system that was expected to keep working and thus little attention had been paid to maintenance convenience. It also served to deter saboteurs. Not that she or the General were overly deterred as they made their way out onto the walkways.

"You know what to do agent." the General said.

Jan nodded as she reached the first power panel and manipulated the controls. She watched as the readings fell. The General did the same on his side and together they powered down the tractor beam's systems. That would enable the freighter to escape. She began to make her way back towards the center walkway but froze as a squad of stormtroopers came into view. They were almost directly parallel to her. If they turned just a little they'd spot her and that would be that. She couldn't allow them to capture the General. She was expendable, he was not. She crept slowly back around the opposite side of the platform and then stepped out behind the troopers. She drew her blaster.

"Hey!"

The troopers turned just in time for Jan to fire a shot into one of their chest plates before turning and running for her life as they opened fire.

* * *

><p>Obi-Wan swore under his breath as Agent Ors opened fire and ran down the corridor with the troopers in hot pursuit. He'd intended to distract the troopers and allow them both to escape but she'd taken matters into her own hands and now was on her own. Much as he would've liked to pursue and assist her, he had more pressing priorities than her safety. Namely: his family and the plans for this space station. Those two things were more important than the Agent's life unfortunately. He made his way back onto the central platform and left the power conduit station. He paused for just a moment as he felt a dark presence touch his thoughts.<p>

Vader was here. On the station...and he knew that Obi-Wan was present. Did he realize who else was here with him?

Even if he had decided to help Agent Ors, it seemed that the Force had other ideas for him. She would have to fend for herself.

* * *

><p>"Where did you find that old fossil?"<p>

Padme looked up as Captain Solo came to lean against the console besides her.

"I beg your pardon?" she said curtly.

"Your husband, how did a woman like you end up with an old man like that?"

Padme's temperament cooled considerably as she gave the smuggler an icy stare.

"My husband is a great man Captain Solo, and you will do well to remember that he is also your employer at the moment."

The smuggler snorted. "Yeah, great at getting us into trouble."

"I don't hear you giving any ideas." Luke quipped up, coming to his father's defense.

Captain Solo turned his attention to Padme's son.

"Well anything is better than waiting around for him to come pick us up!"

The argument was forestalled as Artoo began whistling and chirping excitedly. They all turned to look at the excited astromech as Threepio looked down at his counterpart.

"What is it?" Luke inquired. "What's wrong?"

"I'm afraid I'm not sure sir." Threepio replied. "He keeps saying 'she's been captured' and that 'he's found her holding cell.'"

Padme's heart jumped. "He's speaking of Agent Ors, what of Obi-Wan? Has he found anything on him?"

Artoo chirped excitedly and Threepio translated.

"No mistress, it appears that the master is not mentioned in the communications."

Padme's heart eased slightly but it tightened against as Luke spoke.

"We have to help her, where is she?"

Artoo whistled.

"She's been taken to a detention block," Threepio said. "Level five, detention block AA twenty-three."

"Alright," Luke said as he turned towards Captain Solo. "Come on, let's go get her."

"Now hold on a moment," the smuggler interjected. "I'm not going anywhere."

Luke frowned. "Just a moment ago you said you didn't want to just sit around and wait and now you're just going to stay?"

"Marching into the detention block wasn't what I had in mind." Solo replied.

"But we need to rescue her!" Luke said.

"Not my problem." Captain Solo replied indifferently as he sat down in a chair and turned his back on Luke.

Leia frowned and looked at Padme who recognized the look in her daughter's eyes. She wanted to help Agent Ors as well, and Padme knew better than to think that Luke would let this drop.

"Captain Solo." she said, drawing the smuggler's attention. "You will accompany my children to the detention block and rescue Agent Ors."

The smuggler looked at her with a slight smirk, his disbelief obvious.

"What makes you think I'd do something that idiotic?"

"Because if you do, I will increase the fee my husband is already offering you to twenty-one thousand credits."

The smuggler's face froze. "Twenty-one? You have that kind of money?"

"If you aid my children, then I will not, you will."

Captain Solo licked his lips as his wookie partner moaned plaintively.

He nodded. "Alright, but you better have the money."

Padme smiled sweetly. "I promise you will be justly rewarded for your efforts."

Again he nodded, turning to Luke. "Alright kid, what's your plan?"

Luke turned and looked around the compartment before retrieving a pair of binders from an open drawer.

"Chewbacca, can you put these o—"

The wookie roared in protest as Luke approached it with the binders and Luke jumped back in alarm, handing the binders to Captain Solo.

"Uh, alright, Han...you put those on."

Captain Solo smirked as he took the binders from Luke and approached Chewbacca who grumbled in annoyance.

"It's alright Chewie, I think I know what he has in mind."

As they prepared, Leia came over to Padme worriedly.

"What about you?"

Padme touched the blaster in her holster.

"I know how to defend myself, and I know that you and Luke don't wish to see Jan left behind here."

Leia nodded. "We're coming back."

Padme smiled and kissed Leia gently on the forehead.

"I wouldn't allow otherwise."

* * *

><p>AN-I'm sure everyone knows where this is heading. That's the problem with staying true (as much as can be done in any AU) to the storyline, you all know what's going to happen next...my job is to make sure you enjoy it when it happens!<p> 


	15. Chapter 14

Leia walked ahead of her brother and Captain Solo as they escorted the wookie between them. The plan seemed idiotic when Luke first proposed it, but when their mother hadn't tried to stop him from implementing it Leia had simply resigned herself to it. The startling thing was that so far it seemed to be working. With her walking ahead of them in her technician's uniform and Luke and Captain Solo wearing the stolen stormtrooper armor the only thing they drew from the Imperial crew members was the occasional questioning glance.

Leia took her mother's advice and simply looked as if she were doing something important and didn't have the time to be bothered by anyone or anything and that seemed to do the trick as they reached the lift that would take them to the cell block where Jan had been imprisoned.

As the door closed, Luke glanced over at Captain Solo.

"I can't see a thing in this helmet."

Captain Solo chuckled. "You'll get used to it kid, you're not supposed to see anything. Let the sensors do the hard work."

Leia glanced over her shoulder at the smuggler.

"You sound like you've worn one before."

The smuggler shrugged his shoulders, the movement exaggerated in the armor.

When he didn't elaborate further, Leia frowned but let the issue drop as the lift came to a stop. She frowned as the door didn't open, but then realized that the lift's rear had opened.

Luke and Captain Solo filed out with the wookie in tow before she stepped out behind them and looked around at the security detail.

There were five guards, two of them stormtroopers. She did her best to look as imposing as the man who was eying them dubiously.

"Where are you taking this...thing?" he said with a curled lip as he eyed the wookie.

"Prisoner transfer from Cell Block 1138." Leia said, trying to sound annoyed at the question.

The officer sneered slightly as he turned his gaze on Leia.

"I wasn't notified, I'll have to clear it."

He turned to his console motioning for the troopers to check them. Leia felt panic mount though she tried to keep her calm externally as the troopers approached the wookie. The cuffs weren't secured, if they realized that—her fears became moot as Chewbacca let out a fearsome roar and threw the two troopers back.

"Look out he's loose!" Captain Solo shouted as he turned and fired, shooting out a wall sensor.

Luke seemed to take the cue as he shot one of the guards. Leia reached down and drew her hold out blaster, shooting the Imperial at the console in the chest as Captain Solo and Luke continued shooting. She turned and shot out another of the security systems before turning to look around at the room. The firefight had lasted for just a few seconds but now there were five dead bodies in their midst. She stood there for a moment, taking in the gravity of what had just happened. She'd of course seen people killed before, growing up on Tatooine death wasn't exactly uncommon...but it was the first time she'd personally shot someone.

She looked over at Luke who was looking at her through his helmet. He could feel her distress and he came over to touch her arm in comfort. She nodded. She'd be alright. If their parents could do this, so could she.

"Let's see where you girlfriend is locked up." Captain Solo said as he walked around the console and shoved the dead body of the Imperial Leia had shot onto the floor.

"She's not—" Luke started indignantly.

"Cell 2187." Captain Solo said without paying any attention to Luke. "Go get her, we'll hold things down here."

Luke didn't say anything else as he turned and headed down the detention block to get Agent Ors.

* * *

><p>Luke hurried down the corridor, looking at the cells to either side closely to try and see the numbers. He didn't care what Captain Solo said, he could barely see anything! He stopped and examined the number on the right side.<p>

2187.

He tapped the controls and the door opened. Jan was sitting looking at the deck. She looked up as he entered, a scowl on her face.

"You're a bit runty aren't you." she said venomously.

Luke winced at the tone in her voice and then realized that she didn't know who he was. He reached up and yanked the awful helmet off his face and was rewarded by a look of utter shock on Jan's face.

"What are you doing here!?" she blurted.

"We came to rescue you." Luke declared.

Jan jumped to her feet. "You idiot, you were supposed to escape with your parents!"

Luke was taken aback by her rebuke but she simply sighed and grabbed his arm.

"Come on, let's get out of here."

* * *

><p>Han glanced over the console, spying the blinking red com button. He scowled. Had the now dead officer managed to make a call? He hoped not. He hit the receive button.<p>

"What's going on down there?" asked an agitated voice. "Was that blasterfire?"

"We had a slight weapons malfunction but we're fine, everyone is normal. Um...how are you?"

"Who is this? We're sending a squad down now."

Han swore and raised his blaster, shooting the console in annoyance.

Behind him the girl jumped and turned to look at him in alarm.

"It was a boring conversation." he asserted. "We're going to have company."

He turned to see the boy and the woman coming towards them.

"Give her a weapon and get ready." he shouted, looking at Chewbacca. "Come on Chewie."

* * *

><p>Padme sat pensively at the control console, looking down at the hangar where the smuggler's freighter rested. She had comms with her children and the smugglers but she didn't want to distract them and so instead waited to hear from them. She tilted her head and looked at Artoo and Threepio as the pair worked at the station's computers. She could hardly believe that the little astromech still retained his skills from the Clone Wars but she could hardly complain as he explored the Empire's records. She could only hope that whatever else he was finding would prove useful. Of course now he carried a far more valuable datafile, the plans for this monstrosity.<p>

"Mother! Mother are you there!?"

Padme grabbed the comlink.

"Luke, Luke are you alright?"

"We're pinned down in the detention block, is there another way out?"

Padme looked over at the droids as Artoo whistled worriedly.

"He says that all the surrounding areas have been placed on alert. There doesn't appear to be any way out."

Padme's heart sank. "Luke, the only way out is the way you came in. Can you get out that way?"

Her answer was blasterfire as Luke tried to shout over the sound of combat.

"I don't think so, we'll try!"

Padme marshaled her emotions as the link died. She couldn't help them from here. She had to trust that they could get out of there alive on their own. The idea that she couldn't help her children was torturous and she did her best to compose herself. It was just like the Clone Wars all over again, she'd done this sort of thing before...but before it had only been herself and Anakin at risk...not her children.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden banging on the heavy metal door.

"Open up in there!"

"Oh no." Threepio said worriedly. "I think we've been discovered."

Padme swallowed. Now she was in her own predicament it seemed. She looked around at the bodies lying around the room and frowned as she thought before turning to the droids.

"I think I have an idea, both of you get into that storage locker."

* * *

><p>"There isn't another way out!" the boy shouted over the sound of combat.<p>

"Some rescue!" Jan barked angrily. "The whole reason I got caught in the first place was so you could escape!"

"Don't look at me sweetheart!" the smuggler snarled as he fired down the corridor. "The kid's the brains of this operation!"

Jan scowled as she leaned out from her cover and fired as Luke protested.

"Well I didn't expect them to—"

Jan jumped as the girl turned and fired, apparently aiming at the smuggler who jumped.

"What the hell are you doing!?"

"Saving our skins!" she replied as she stepped out into the corridor and fired at the Imperials. "Everyone into the garbage chute!"

Jan watched as she swung her legs into the chute and dropped from sight.

"You've got a wonderful sister!" the smuggler snarled angrily. "Either I'm going to kill her or I'm starting to like her!"

The boy didn't say anything as he leaned back against the bulkhead.

"GO!" the smuggler shouted.

The boy jumped down headfirst into the chute while the wookie crossed and made to descend but halted, whining pitiably.

"Get in there!" the smuggler barked.

The wookie wailed again.

"I don't care what you smell, get in their you woolly oaf!"

The smuggler delivered a firm kick to the wookie's backside and sent him with a shriek downwards, leaving himself and Jan still in the corridor.

"Ladies first!" he shouted.

Jan nodded and swung down the chute, dropping into the blackness below. Above her, she heard a shout that she assumed was the smuggler. She hoped he hadn't been hurt as she plummeted downwards.

* * *

><p>Obi-Wan made his way through the corridors of the battle station cautiously. He could sense Vader, but it didn't feel as if he were being herded. It was as if the Sith were simply...waiting for him. He took a deep breath and continued on his way. He'd always known that sooner or later, he must face Anakin again and it seemed that today was the fated day. He'd frequently wondered if he should have finished his one time apprentice and friend instead of leaving him to die...but he had balked and just left him to burn. Now he regretted that decision, in fact he'd regretted that decision a thousand times over, but what was done was done. He had to face the consequences of his actions. He only hoped that he could protect Padme and the twins from their father's wrath.<p> 


End file.
